Forbidden
by Caroline L'Amoure
Summary: Alice is the daughter of the greatest summoner the world has known- she is in her senior year at the academy for 'gifted' students, and still trying to harness her powers. When she summons a hot-headed demon named Zarkash, her world will change forever...
1. Chapter 1

Alice concentrated on the runes drawn in the wooden floor around her, a soft silvery glow coming from the written incantation. Sweat beaded down her forehead as her effort became harder, the glow intensifying and raising a small circle above the ground before her. Inside the circle a small light appeared, growing in intensity as Alice tried summoning a beast from heaven. Suddenly the light flashed, and a blood-curdling scream sounded from her room, making her flinch and lose concentration. The glow faded and in the circle was a mound of flesh and feathers, heaving for life in a futile attempt to regain its former shape. The flesh finally stilled, slumping to the ground as the summoned monstrosity died. Alice watched this with horror and despair, knowing now that she would never be able to summon anything. She had tried summoning a Cupi, the smallest level of angel in heaven, and she couldn't even manage that.  
"Alice- come out of there!" A knock on the wooden door behind her sounded the arrival of her good friend, Ricky. Alice quickly wiped the tears from her eyes, taking in several deep breaths before standing and waving her hands, the dead Cupi disappearing in a soft glow. She scuffed the runs with her foot before opening the door, revealing a blond-haired blue-eyed man with a very concerned expression.  
"Were you trying to summon again?" He asked softly, seeing the scuffed ring of white chalk on the ground behind her.  
She nodded quickly, trying to hold back the tears that were burning at her eyes.  
Ricky sighed and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around Alice as she let out a soft sob. The black wings sprouting from Ricky's back folded around them, darkness settling between them.  
"You're okay, Alice. I don't know why you keep trying this much if it hurts you like this." Ricky sighed, looking down at the young girl as she cried into his white t-shirt.  
"I-I have to. I'll be a scrub!" Alice cried into his shirt, clenching her fists in the fabric.  
"You won't be a scrub." Ricky shook his head in dismay. Alice had been like a little sister to him since they had started their freshman year in this special high school for magical people and creatures. Ricky, being a descendant from a fallen angel, was technically a magical creature. As such, he had to live with all the other 'creatures' in their dorm- even though he was mostly human. He didn't like to be so far away from Alice all the time, she was a very vulnerable person in this place.  
"You have magic, right? You can make things glow even if you can't summon things very well. So then you're not a scrub." Ricky said, trying to cheer Alice up as she cried softly.  
"But my father was the best in the world. I'm his only child, so I'm supposed to take after him and be the best too, right?"  
"Oh please." Ricky rolled his eyes. "Just because I'm the son of an angel doesn't mean I'll have white wings. Remember when I was worried about that? It turned out fine, didn't it?" Ricky said, remembering his relief when his parents only smiled at his large black wings- making him one of the infamous crow demons.  
"Yeah…" Alice looked up at the black feathers around her, sighing to try to calm down. Ricky was right, she had to keep trying. Maybe next time she should try to summon something from…  
Alice shivered at the thought of confronting a demon, but knew that it needed to be tried. Obviously summoning things from heaven was not working out well.  
"How about you try again tomorrow? Maybe this time it'll work out." Ricky pushed her away slightly, folding his black wings against his back again.  
"Are you going to class soon?" Alice looked up at her friend, trying to keep her mind off of the thought of making another mistake. She often wondered whether the creatures she mistakenly changed while summoning really died, or if they were just recalled back to the other dimensions.  
"Yeah, I have flight training." Ricky sighed, his wings drooping behind his back.  
"Oh, I like watching you in flight training- can I come along?" Alice smiled, her eyes still slightly red from crying. Ricky faltered at the sight and rolled his eyes, ruffling Alice's hair playfully.  
"Sure, shrimp. Just don't cheer me on this time, it's embarrassing." He smiled, leading her down the hall toward his next class. Alice looked around her at the other people walking through the hall- different species all around and all wearing some version of the school uniform. She did like being here, it was one of the few places in the world where she thought she fit in. She looked at the ground uneasily as she kept walking, ignoring the stares of those around her from being one of the richest magic users in the world. She hated getting attention just because she had money, it made her cautious with anyone who was kind to her.  
"Alright, here we are." Ricky walked out of a set of double doors, into a brightly lit courtyard.  
"You're late, Richard." A woman with large bat wings and red eyes scolded Ricky.  
"Sorry professor, I was being trailed by a kitten." Ricky smirked, taking his place between a witch on a broom and a humanoid dragon creature beside him.  
"Alright everyone- today we practice mid-air combat. No claws, no teeth and no magic. Just hand-to-hand combat."  
The dragon beside Ricky snorted in disappointment before they took to the air. Alice sat on the grass, watching the students above practice their lessons with content. Even if she couldn't summon, she knew that the others would accept her for who she was, but her parents…  
She wasn't so sure about them.  
"Alright…" Alice clenched her eyes shut as she kneeled beside the larger circle of runes. She made a few hand motions before taking a deep breath, clapping her palms together and lowering them in front of her chest. Ricky was in his class, all her dorm mates were away in their own classes, but she was still being placed into relevant classes. She scorned herself for her wandering thoughts and bit her lip anxiously as she focused once more on the incantations written before her. This was her last time- if this summoning died, she would never kill another creature again.  
Alice flinched as she bit her lip too hard and it started bleeding from the amount of concentration and power she was feeding into the circle of runes, making them glow a vibrant and steady silver. The glowing circle rose and started spinning in mid-air, the space in the middle turning green. A small flame started, engulfing the entire circle but stopping at the barrier of the magic she had set up. The fire turned emerald as it roared angrily, a pair of eyes peering from within the flames- one red, and one yellow. Alice kept concentrating, keeping her eyes closed as the fire condensed into a tall figure with large claws and spiraling ram-like horns, long fangs smiling through the fire. Alice held on as long as she could, pouring all her magic into the circle before her head started spinning, the room around her going dark.  
"Hey- wake up, little bitch!" Alice heard a low growling voice from within the room, shaking her head to clear her fuzzy mind. She looked up to see a tall man standing within her silver barrier, his arms crossed and looking very angry. Two large black curved horns were sprouted from either side of his head, circling around long pointed ears. His eyes were even stranger- one was yellow, and one was red. He looked very Irish with his long red hair, and his strong angular features.  
"Fucking finally. You wanna let me out of here, now?" The demon pointed to the silver glow around him. He glared down at her as she faltered in confusion. "I can't take it down, you're the one who cast it. Or do you want to go through that whole fucking ceremony of 'oh I promise not to hurt you, master' because that's just too bad." The demon bared his fangs in frustration. "It's bad enough that you summoned me, even though you're a fucking little girl- you managed to seal my powers somehow too." He growled.  
"S-sorry." Alice sat up, waving her hand and the silver glow dissipated.  
"Don't snivel like that, you're the master here." The demon stepped out of the ring, looking much like a man, except for the horns, eyes and ears.  
"Okay." Alice said, trying to gather her thoughts. He was calling her master, did that mean… "Wait- did I summon you?"  
The demon looked at her in disbelief, and put a palm to his face in frustration. "Of course you did, stupid girl. What the hell do you think this is?" The demon pointed to a small black mark on his cheek, in a similar yet slightly different design than the one of his left shoulder.  
"A… a summoning mark." Alice said in disbelief, and then stood with a cheer. "It worked! Oh my God, I can't believe it!" She yelled, and looked up to see the Demon watching her with horror.  
"Fuck, you mean I'm the first summon that's worked for you?" He said, his voice laced with a growl.  
"Uh… yeah." Alice said uneasily.  
"FUCK!" The demon yelled, a bright glow forming around him. He calmed and the glow disappeared. "That's fine- that's okay, I'll figure out some way to get back." He closed his eyes as he tried to calm himself, then focused his fierce stare on Alice. "So then, where and when are we?"  
"Um… my high school, and the year is 2008."  
The demon paused for a minute before letting out a deep growl. "You're still in high school?"  
"Yeah." Alice smiled uneasily.  
"Fucking great. Alright then, I guess we'll introduce each other. You're the summoner, so you go first."  
"I'm Alice Tartush, daughter of Evan Tartush." Alice said, lowering her head slightly.  
"Evan? You're his daughter?" The demon looked at her with newfound interest. "He was my last master. A good man."  
Alice nodded with an inner sigh. Once again, she was being forced to live in her father's shadow.  
"My name is Zarkash. I am a Fomorian demon, and I'm around 600 years old. How old are you?"  
"Um… 19?"  
Zarkash looked at her in dismay, but let out a great sigh. "Alright, then. We'll work this out somehow." The demon started walking out of the room, but was surprised when Alice grabbed his arm.  
"No- they don't allow anyone but students and teachers on campus! We'll get in huge trouble."  
Zarkash looked at her for a minute and rolled his eyes, his form shimmering with a green light before shrinking down to the ground. In his place sat a cat the color of his demon form's hair.  
~Better?~ He looked up at her, his voice echoing through Alice's mind.  
"Does that mean that only I can hear you?"  
~Correct. Talk in your head and I'll hear you too. I just hope that you're not one of those fucking annoying people that constantly thinks to themselves.~ Zarkash growled lowly in his cat-form and walked out of the door, his long tail lashing behind him in annoyance.


	2. Chapter 2

Alice walked down the hall, occasionally glancing back to see Zarkash walk behind her, his rust-colored fur bristling at the amount of people around him.  
~You humans spawn far too much for your own good~ He growled in her mind, pausing as a creature crossed his path, green scaled skin glistening in the afternoon light. ~WHAT IS THAT THING?~ Zarkash froze, looking up at the creature in horror.  
"Oh, it's a Draconian." Alice said simply with a shrug. Zarkash slowly moved away from it, watching its every movement as he slinked sideways until he was past it.  
~You mean to tell me some human mated with a dragon to create that creature? That's sick.~ Zarkash let out a small hiss in his cat form, and looked up as someone stopped in front of Alice with a wave.  
"My class is over, so I thought I'd come see how you were doing. Did you try to summon again?" Ricky smiled, his black wings folded against his back.  
"Oh- uh, yeah. How did your flight training go? Sorry I couldn't stay for too long- I didn't want to distract you." Alice looked down uneasily.  
~Who's this guy? He seems friendly to you.~ Zarkash looked up at Ricky cautiously.  
~Does this work? That's Ricky. He's a good friend of mine.~ Alice bit her lip nervously, hoping Xarkash had heard her.  
~Looks like a pussy to me.~ Zarkash growled. Alice looked down at him in horror.  
"Don't say that! That's horrible!" She said in disbelief, making Ricky look at her in confusion.  
"Say what?" He blinked.  
"Oh- uh…" Alice bent down and picked Zarkash up, who yowled in protest, digging his claws into her arm. "This is Zarkash."  
Ricky looked at the cat closer and noticed the tattoo-like mark within the fur of its cheek. "Is that a summoning mark? You did it, Alice! What is he?"  
~WHAT AM I?~ Zarkash hissed, his fur bristling. ~I'm a being who roasts kids like you for breakfast! Don't you fucking ask who I am, I'll eat you alive!" Zarkash struggled for a bit, his fur bristling as he jumped to the ground. He looked like he was trying to do something and blinked in confusion, flopping to the ground in frustration. ~DAMN IT, WOMAN. I can't even change into another animal!~  
Alice laughed nervously and glanced to Ricky. "He's a demon."  
Ricky looked at her in horror, his blue eyes wide. "That's dangerous, Alice. You know how people are about demons. What did he mean he can't change?"  
"Well, I think he can change into animals. He said he was a fomo- uh… a fomorio demon."  
~FOMORIAN!~ Zarkash hissed, and looked at Alice with a fierce glare. ~Not that it matters, I'm stuck as either a kitten or a the hell kind of summoner are you?~  
"Inexperienced." Alice blushed, her look turning sad.  
"Hey, don't listen to him. He sounds like a total jerk." Ricky put a hand on Alice's shoulder for comfort, looking down at the cat with cold eyes. Zarkash looked back up at him, his tail swishing behind him in interest.  
~So, pussy-boy- your black wings tell me you're a crow demon?~  
"Ah, not really." Ricky said uneasily. "More like a black angel."  
~Even more interesting.~ Zarkash smiled, which was a very strange sight on a cat.  
"Maybe we should go to a room, Alice. We're attracting a crowd." Ricky glanced at the people around him, who were staring at them for their sudden outbursts.  
~Agreed. I'm getting sick of this form.~ Zarkash spat, walking down the hall back to Alice's room. Alice looked to Ricky in apology for Zarkash's rudeness and followed him.  
~I Can't believe I'm stuck in a fucking high school.~ Zarkash sighed, jumping onto Alice's bed back in her room. He sat and changed back to his demon form, his white tunic and brown pants forming with him. Ricky watched the transformation in amazement, and Alice giggled at his wide eyes.  
"What are you looking at?" Zarkash growled, his fangs bared.  
"N-nothing. I've just never seen an actual demon before." Ricky stammered, returning to his normal state.  
"Well here I am- flesh and blood." Zarkash leaned back against the wall behind him, his bare feet crossed as he relaxed. "Now girl- I think that what we should work on first is how to unseal my powers. For both our sakes."  
"And how would unsealing your powers be good for her? You'd just try to kill her to escape." Ricky crossed his arms in frustration at this new demon.  
"You really have no clue, do you boy? A summoned creature is bound to the life of its master. If she dies, I die. Vise versa. I have quite a few enemies down south, and in my state they might want to take advantage of that fact. Especially Morg." Zarkash opened one eye- his red one, and looked to Alice. "You don't want to meet him."  
"O-okay. I suppose I could work on that. I don't really know how though." Alice said softly, walking over to the desk in her room, taking out a worn-out book. "I suppose I could try."  
"You'd better." Zarkash growled, closing his eyes again. "So what do you do around here? I know he has classes- do you?"  
"No, not yet." Alice said absent-mindedly, trying to read something in the book. "They haven't thought of something they could teach me yet. The only magic I have is to summon things, otherwise I'm just a regular human girl."  
"So in otherwords, you're relatively useless." Zarkash sighed.  
Alice looked down at the floor, her eyes sad. "Yeah, I guess so."  
"No she's not, she summoned you." Ricky said, annoyed. "I'd say that's a pretty big deal."  
"Yeah, I guess. It means she has as much power as her father, which is saying something. That man could whoop my ass." Zarkash smiled. "But he was a good man. Too bad he died."  
Alice looked at Zarkash again, this time her purple eyes blazing with anger. She threw the book at him, her eyes burning. "DON'T TALK ABOUT HIM!" She yelled, her entire body glowing silver. "I'm sick of hearing about him!I'm me- not my father, so just leave me alone!" She said, her voice shaking as she stood fuming for a minute and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.  
Zarkash looked at the door in shock, not expecting such anger from a little girl like Alice. "Did I say something wrong?"  
Ricky sighed. "Alice has lived under her father's shadow her entire life. It made her very insecure, and unable to be confident enough to summon. Since she summoned you, she probably figured that she would be able to be her own person now. However, it seems you knew her father. Did he summon you before?"  
"Yeah." Zarkash pulled down the left sleeve of his tunic, revealing a second summoning mark. "I fought for him for nearly a decade before he dismissed me. I heard he died from another demon."  
"Well, don't mention him too much. You pissed her off, so now you get to deal with her." Ricky smirked wryly. "Ciao." He waved, and walked out the door.  
"Shit." Zarkash spat, glaring at the book he had caught in his hands- written in Alice's father's handwriting. Zarkash had heard he had died ten years ago- did that mean Alice hadn't had lessons by him? That was probably why she wasn't very good at controlling her powers yet. Zarkash let out a deep growl, baring his fangs in frustration before turning into a cat again, and walking out the door.

The sun started to set on the horizon as Zarkash sniffed at the air, trying to find Alice by her scent. He hadn't known her very long, so he wasn't used to her smell yet, and it was making tracking her difficult. He walked out into the courtyard of the school, most of the other students heading for bed. He saw Alice sitting on a log, her hands glowing silver as she focused on something on the ground in front of her. He sat down in the cool grass, not really knowing what to say. She had acted so angry… he could feel through their mental link the frustration she was trying to keep inside her. What was she up to out here?  
He saw a bird fly out of the area in front of Alice, and her smile as she watched it fly off in his direction. He stayed still as she spotted him, but sighed as she quickly turned around again. He walked forward, jumping up onto the log beside her. He looked at where she had been concentrating, and saw a small pool of blood on the grass. Looking at her in amazement, he leaned down and smelled the liquid to make sure it was blood.  
~Did you just heal that bird?~ he asked, trying to sound as neutral as he could. God he hated humans- they were so damn emotional.  
"Yeah. It's something I've been able to do since I was little." Alice whispered, not looking at Zarkash as he turned back into his human-like form.  
"I've never known anyone able to heal before. That's a rare gift." Zarkash looked at the ground uneasily. "Your father couldn't do it."  
Alice looked up at him in surprise. "He couldn't?"  
"No, not at all. Would have been useful, that's for sure." He chuckled, his fangs flashing in the setitng sun. "You have quite a temper, don't you?" He glanced to her, his yellow and red eyes uneasy.  
"Yeah. Sorry. Did the book get damaged?"  
"No, I caught it." Zarkash said. They stayed silent for a bit, before Zarkash sighed, running a hand through his hair and along one of his ram-like horns. "I'm not used to being around others. It just gets me so…" Zarkash looked at the ground to search for the right words. "…Pissed."  
"I understand. I'm sorry I sucked you up into this world. I can put you back, if you want." Alice said softly. Zarkash looked at her curiously.  
"Wait- you know how to unsummon too?"  
"Yeah, I can send you back if you want. I'll just try and get someone else." Alice looked at the sunset, her eyes sad. "You don't seem to like it here."  
Zarkash sighed again, putting his head in one of his clawed hands. "No, I better not. You're so weak anyone could attack you at any moment, and you wouldn't be able to fight them. We'll work on unsealing my powers for now, and maybe later you can send me back."  
Alice glanced at Zarkash with a small smile and nodded, looking back to the sunset in front of them. "You do make a cute cat, though." She grinned.  
Zarkash's ears drooped and he made a face of embarassment. "Gee, thanks." He looked at her with a smile as well.  
"Come on, girl- let's get back inside." Zarkash said and stood, looking suddenly to the south. He paused, completely motionless as a low growl sounded from the forest at the other side of the courtyard. He sighed, looking to Alice with suddenly alert eyes. "Get behind me. Someone's here."  
Alice let out a squeak of fear and ran behind Zarkash, gripping his shirt as he crouched low in a defensive position, his claws bared.  
"I heard you- come on out now!" He yelled, and stepped back in surprise when a Manticore burst out of the forest.  
"Found you." The creature growled, the snake tail rearing up and hissing.  
"Ah, Golorne. I was hoping you'd be first." Zarkash smiled, his fangs bared as he prepared to defend his master.


	3. Chapter 3

Zarkash watched the manticore at the other side of the clearing intently, a sly grin over his face.  
"I was lucky to have gotten here first. I'm surprised that you let yourself be summoned by such a small human. Is she the one that has her grip on you?" Golorne snickered, the snake tail's hood suddenly opening with a loud hiss. "It took quite an effort to get up into this world, you know."  
"I believe it. Now- were we going to fight, or do I have to listen to you talk your mouth off all fucking night?"  
The manticore let out a loud hiss, its claws flexing into the ground and uprooting grass. "Rush to your death, see if I care. Your powers are sealed, so there's no way you can defeat me."  
"We'll see." Zarkash growled, and pushed Alice further behind him. "When I yell to you, start running. Don't look back, just go."  
Alice looked up at Zarkash with wide purple eyes."I can't just leave you here- there's no way I'm just running away."  
Zarkash let out a low growl, glancing over his shoulder to her. "Don't be stubborn, you stupid girl. Just do as I say."  
Alice glared back and watched as the manticore suddenly started charging them.  
"GO!" Zarkash pushed her away, running for the beast as well, jumping into the air and landing on its back. He grabbed the snake tail by the head and held onto the lion mane, laughing.  
"Alright Golorne, you asked for this- if you really want to fight me I'll have no choice but to not hold back. You've pissed me off chasing me up here." Zarkash twisted the snake's neck, making the human face in the lion body cry out in pain. Suddenly the snake reared itself, spitting a green substance onto Zarkash's shoulder. He yelled in pain as the acid started burning his skin, jumping off the manticore's back and rolling so that he landed on his feet.  
"You deserved that, you cocky demon. Why would you throw yourself at me like that?" The manticore watched Zarkash for a minute before looking at Alice as she ran. "Ah, I see. You care for that girl so much in such a short time. A foolish mistake." The manticore made a sickly grin at Zarkash and started running for Alice.  
"ALICE!" Zarkash jumped to his feet, running after the manticore with all his might. Alice looked behind her and yelled in fear, running faster. The manticore soon caught up with her, knocking her to the ground and laughing triumphantly. He put a large paw on her chest and stepped down, making both Alice and Zarkash flinch in pain. Alice saw the face smile as her vision darkened until she completely blacked out.  
Zarkash looked down at his hands as his body started glowing silver.  
"Well what do you know?" He smiled, looking up at the manticore. He changed forms quickly, his horns elongating and spiraling away from his head, a long wolf-like snout sprouting from his face, his pointed ears elongating and growing rust-colored fur over most of his body. He looked down at the black clawed hands and grinned. "Looks like I've been unsealed."  
The manticore jumped away from Alice, his eyes wide in horror. "No- it's impossible! A demon can't unseal itself once summoned!" it yelled frantically as it backed up from Zarkash as he walked forward, his newly formed cloven hooves digging into the dirt beneath him, and his rust-colored lion tail slashing at the air behind him.  
"Nope, they can't." Zarkash smirked, fangs flashing as the manticore started glowing bright green, screaming in pain.

"Hey- wake up." Zarkash said, sighing in relief when Alice slowly started to open her eyes. She looked up at Zarkash, who was kneeling next to her in his human-like form in concern. She suddenly remembered what had happened and looked around in surprise.  
"Where's that monster? Is he still here?"  
"Well, he's here. But fried." Zarkash pointed over his shoulders at a pile of smoldering remains. Alice squeaked in shock and put a hand over her mouth in shock.  
"Did you do that? How?" She looked up at Zarkash in surprise.  
"You unsealed me somehow, and I got all my powers back. Looks like I'm sealed again, though." Zarkash looked down at his hands, missing the feel of his normal form.  
"How did you get re-sealed? I didn't even mean to unseal you." Alice said thoughtfully.  
"Well, you went unconscious. Did you think of anything before you fainted?"  
"Um… that I didn't want you to lose, I guess. You got burned pretty badly." Alice said, looking down in guilt. If only she had control over her abilities, he wouldn't have his enemies chasing after him.  
"Huh, maybe that did it. And it's no big deal. I can't die from burns. I'm more worried about you dying and dragging me with you." Zarkash said in frustration. "That would be one hell of a way to go. So next time I tell you to run- run as fast as you can." Zarkash growled.  
Alice nodded shyly, knowing she had put him, and therefore herself, in danger.  
Zarkash let out a long sigh and drooped his shoulders in frustration. "Alright, you're fine. Just think about yourself next time, and not about me. It takes a lot to take me out, but you almost got squished." Zarkash put a hand to his chest, still feeling the pain from earlier. "Are you feeling okay?"  
"Better." Alice said softly. She knew he was only asking because he was worried about his own life. He didn't really care about her at all.  
"Good. Let's get you out of the cold, then. I've had a hell of a long day, and I need sleep."  
"Demons have to sleep?"  
"Of course we have to sleep, stupid girl. We're living beings too, you know." Zarkash looked at her as if she were crazy before turning into his cat form, sinking from her view. Alice smiled and picked him up, carrying him as she walked back to her dorm room, ignoring his protests.  
"Hey- Zarkash, are you alright? You don't look so good." Alice watched Zarkash as he leaned against the wall in his human form, sighing in frustration at her question.  
"Of course I don't. I got burned by snake acid." He growled, looking down at the red and blistered skin on his chest. His tunic was ruined, that was for sure.  
"Here- let me heal it." Alice hopped off her bed and kneeled next to him, setting both palms on the area. Zarkash hissed in pain from the contact but soon relaxed as warmth coursed through him. He sighed and leaned against the wall, his elfish ears drooping as he smiled. Alice looked up at him and chuckled, having never seen him so relaxed before. She finished healing his chest and looked him over for any remaining damage before finally being satisfied.  
"Thank you." He murmured, embarrassed to have let his guard down so much as she healed him.  
"You're welcome." She said happily, her blond hair falling around her shoulders. Zarkash watched her for a minute with wide eyes before sighing.  
"You're so weak- some guy's going to kidnap you and I'll have to eat him." Zarkash growled as he looked away.  
"I'm not that weak." Alice pouted. She looked at the ground for a minute before lashing out a silver-glowing hand toward him to teach him that she had some power to her. He caught her hand and dragged her toward him so that she was inches away from his gleaming fangs in a grin.  
"Well, you have bite at least. There's no way you'd be able to hurt me though." He said quietly in a low tone. He watched her for a minute before sighing again and slumping forward with a long string of profanities.  
"What's wrong now?"  
"Nothing." He looked away with a growl.  
"Liar. Tell me." Alice poked him in the shoulder, ignoring his glare. "I won't leave you alone until you do."  
"You wouldn't leave me alone even if I did, you annoying girl." Zarkash grabbed her hand and pushed her away. "I'm hungry, okay? I haven't eaten since I got here."  
"Oh- that's easy to fix. I'll go get you something to eat from the cafeteria. They're still open for the night students, you know." Alice stood up, but was stopped when Zarkash kept his grip on her wrist.  
"It won't be there. Just forget it." He said, and pushed her hand away again, holding his spinning head in frustration. He was so damn hungry, but he didn't want to eat. What was wrong with him?  
Alice crossed her arms in frustration, looking down at Zarkash in annoyance. "Well fine, mister fickle. Starve yourself. You'll only get more weak until you can't fight, and then I'll get eaten by something."  
Zarkash let out a loud groan of frustration and put a hand on his face, hiding his expression. "You don't get it, do you? I want to eat, but I can't."  
"Well why not? That doesn't make any sense."  
"Because there's food right in front of me! Get it now?" Zarkash growled, his eyes fierce. Alice looked at him in confusion for a bit before her eyes widened in realization.  
"You eat humans?" She said, scooting back in fear.  
"NO!" Zarkash rolled his eyes in exasperation. "I drink blood. I can't hunt in either of my forms, so I can't get food. Get it now?"  
"Oh." Alice looked uneasily at the ground below her knees. "Um… are you really that hungry?"  
"Have you ever fought on an empty stomach?" Zarkash said, and shook his head. "Nevermind, you've never fought at all. Just forget it. I'll figure something out."  
Alice bit her lip nervously. "How much would you need?"  
Zarkash looked at her in surprise and blushed. "Noooo no no no. Don't tempt me, girl."  
Alice suddenly turned serious, leaning forward. "Seriously. I don't want you to get too weak. I'd hate to see you get really hurt just because you couldn't eat."  
Zarkash watched her for a minute, his yellow and red eyes wide. "Are you sure?"  
Alice blushed, nodding softly. "Just don't take too much."  
"No problem." Zarkash said, grabbing her wrist and pulling her toward him. He pressed her against his chest, feeling the warmth of her before breathing on her neck, his fangs bared. "Last chance." He said against her skin, making her shiver.  
"No, I'm okay." Alice whispered, closing her eyes in anticipation. She felt a pinprick at her neck and gasped as he started sucking her blood, a sickly painful coldness coming over her neck and shoulders. He let out a small moan against her skin at the taste of human blood, especially blood saturated with so much magic in it. He finally took his mouth away, licking his mouth of the remaining blood on his chin, and holding his palm to the pricks on her neck.  
"Thank you." He muttered, his face slightly flushed.  
Alice nodded, her skin slightly pale as she wobbled a little to the side. Zarkash caught her before she fell, and swore softly.  
"Why didn't you tell me I took too much? I can't tell how much blood is too much unless you tell me." He growled, picking her up and bringing her over to her bed.  
"You were hungry. I'm okay." Alice whispered, her voice weak. Zarkash growled, looking down at her with a fierce expression.  
"You are not okay. Get some rest, and we'll talk about this in the morning." Zarkash set her down on the mattress, and changed into his cat form. He jumped up onto the bed, watching her for a minute before curling up beside her to sleep. He was starting to get a soft spot for this stupid girl- but she thought too little about herself. He mrowled angrily at the thought of the manticore attacking her and wondered if he would be able to save her if Morg decided to take advantage of this situation.


	4. Chapter 4

Alice woke up slowly, murmuring in protest at the light shining through her window. She looked around for Zarkash and smiled softly when she saw him in his cat form, curled up within the blankets next to her. She watched as he stretched but remained asleep, letting out a soft sigh. Biting here lip nervously, Alice reached out a hand slowly, knowing that he'd be very angry with her for touching him if he woke up. She set her hand on his side, chuckling when he let out another sigh, but remained asleep. His fur felt like any other cat's, and she was surprised that he didn't somehow feel different since he was a demon. Sitting up, she looked down and sighed at her wrinkled uniform. She wouldn't be able to go out into the halls and talk with others unless she changed her outfit. Looking over at Zarkash again, Alice blushed at the thought of dressing in front of him, even if he was a sleep. Instead she rooted through her drawers for her extra uniform and carefully opened the door, shutting it behind her without a sound to make her way to the bathrooms down the hall.  
Zarkash stretched with a loud mrowl, looking around with drowsy eyes. Noticing Alice was gone he suddenly became alert, turning into his human form quickly and standing up from the bed.  
"Hey- where are you, girl?" He looked around the small dorm room, but knew she wasn't there. What if something had happened to her? Had Morg come and taken her? The last thought made Zarkash blanch and open the door, looking around the girl's dormitory hall. His ears drooped in horror at the sight of all the young girls in towels and he quickly closed the door behind him, not really knowing what else to do. He looked around the room with his yellow and red eyes, wondering how he could go out and search, but avoid all the human girls infesting the hallway. With an anxious sigh he turned back into his cat form, nudging the door open slightly and crouched low to the ground as he waited for a girl to pass by him, hoping she wouldn't notice him. This particular girl looked different from the others- she had long black hair, bright green eyes and looked strangely slender. She looked down at him, making Zarkash freeze, his eyes wide. She kneeled down, smiling at him and reaching out a hand. Zarkash hunched his back, letting out a long hiss in warning at her and sighed in relief when he saw Alice walking back to the dorm room, in a new uniform. But she suddenly stopped when she saw him- why the hell had she stopped?!  
"Come on, kitty. There's no need to be scared." The green-eyed girl said softly, putting a hand on his head. He screamed in anger, lashing out at the girl with claws and teeth. The girl suddenly stood up, biting her lip in pain when she looked down at her bleeding arm. She stared at the cat in shock as Alice approached, picking up Zarkash by the waist.  
"Don't scratch people, you dumb cat- how many times to I have to tell you?" Alice said sternly to Zarkash, shaking him a little for emphasis.  
~Dumb cat?!~ Zarkash growled, glaring at Alice.  
~Shut up- you're supposed to stay in the room.~ Alice looked down at him, her purple eyes cold. Zarkash glared at her again, but stayed silent.  
"I'm sorry about that, he's pretty hostile with people he doesn't know well." Alice said, looking at the girl's hand while still holding Zarkash in her other arm.  
"O-okay. I just don't get it, though. Usually all animals love me. I've never been scratched." The girl said, tears at the corners of her eyes.  
"Oh." Alice said, her insides clenching in horror when she realized this girl was an elf- she would know Zarkash wasn't really a cat…  
~Be nice to her, Zarkash, or we'll get in huge trouble. She knows you're not a cat.~ Alice told Zarkash through their link, and looked at the girl's scratches. "They don't look bad. A band-aid should be good enough for them."  
"Okay. What kind of cat is he?" The elf looked at Zarkash again, with confused eyes.  
"The bad kind." Alice growled. "Really, don't mind him. He's horrible to everyone.- even me. I just don't understand him sometimes." Alice chuckled.  
Zarkash looked up at her and squirmed out of her grip, running back into the dorm room. Alice watched after him and clenched her teeth in frustration. What an annoying creature.  
"Alice Tartush- please report to the headmaster's office as soon as possible, thank you" Sounded over the school's intercom, making Alice look up in confusion. She had been here for nearly a month now with no problems. Had they already found out Zarkash was a demon?  
"Oh my- you're Alice Tartush?" The elf blushed and bowed slightly, then ran down the hall away from her. Alice watched her run and looked down sadly before walking back into her room. Zarkash was leaning back on the couch, his chest bare and his shirt and doublet laying on the ground. He was looking down at his chest, which showed a very large blue and purple bruise in the shape of a paw.  
"What are you doing?" Alice walked over, looking at the bruise in confusion. She hadn't seen that there before, how had it gotten there?  
"This is turning out to be really annoying. Maybe I should have gone after all." Zarkash growled, poking at the bruise and wincing at the pain.  
"You got that from me getting hurt- didn't you?" Alice whispered, remembering when the Demon had stepped on her chest. She had seen a similar bruise on her, but it hadn't been that big.  
Zarkash looked up at her, his eyes bright and filled with anger. "What the hell's with you today? First you're shaking me around and now you're worried about me. Fuck, humans are so confusing." The demon growled, his fangs bared as he leaned back in the green and purple pillows in frustration.  
Alice watched him for a minute, her eyes sad. "Alright. When I get back, I'll send you back to wherever you came from. Just stay here for now." Alice said softly. Zarkash sat up as she walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her.  
Alice walked through the halls of the school, wondering what the headmaster wanted to talk to her about. Hopefully he didn't know that Zarkash was actually a demon, though since he was going back it didn't really matter now. She slowed her pace as she thought of Zarkash. Why did he want to get away from her so much? Was she really that horrible? She looked up as she bumped into someone, and saw Ricky's concerned face looking back down at her.  
"Hey, what's wrong? You're walking about like a zombie." Ricky held her by the shoulders and guided her to the side of the hall so that they wouldn't get in people's way.  
"I'm sending Zarkash back. He doesn't want to be around me." Alice said, looking down at the ground. She heard Ricky growl in frustration and he pulled her toward him.  
"Don't worry about him- he's a complete ass. You're a good girl, and people love to be around you. You're just too shy sometimes." Ricky smiled, hating to see Alice so sad over some stupid demon.  
"I-um… I got attacked last night by one of his enemies." She whispered.  
"What?!" Ricky whispered, trying to keep the conversation private.  
"A manticore came, and attacked us. He started running after me, and… I guess I fainted or something. Zarkash killed him."  
"Well at least you're not hurt." Ricky said in relief, but looked her over anyway for any damage.  
"He got hurt though. I felt awful. Why should he get hurt just because I don't know how to properly control my powers? Now the headmaster wants to see me for some reason, and I don't know what's going on anymore." Alice whispered. Ricky looked down at her, putting the palm of his hand against her cheek.  
"You'll be fine. Maybe the headmaster decided what you should do." Ricky said, taking his hands off her arms. "Cheer up, you'll be okay. You don't need that stupid demon, and it sounds like he's being more trouble than he's worth."  
"I suppose." Alice said, and looked down the hall. "I should go to the headmaster. I don't want him to wait too long for me."  
"Alright, Alice. Just remember what I said." Ricky said, watching her walk down the hall again.  
"My my, aren't you such the sweetie?" A girl smiled up to Ricky, who blushed. Ricky looked down at the girl, her brown hair spilling out of a witch's hat, her ruffled dress curving over her. She held a broom in one hand, and a book in the other.  
"Shut up, Mio." Ricky looked away at the girl from his flying class.  
"She's a nice girl. A little too quiet for my tastes, though. Who were you talking about that was more trouble than he's worth? Someone she likes?" Mio smirked wryly.  
"I don't know." Ricky clenched his teeth in frustration. "If she does though, it's not good for her. I just want to make sure she's happy, and I know she wouldn't be with that bastard. He taunts her every time he opens his mouth."  
"Sounds like a rivalry. Are you thinking of confronting said man?" Mio smiled.  
"No. He would beat me with no effort." Ricky said sadly, his wings drooping behind him.  
"Well then, we'll just have to fix that. Angels don't have just the ability to fly, you know. I think there's more to you than meets the eye."  
Mio grabbed Ricky's wrist and tugged him out to the field.  
"You called for me, sir?" Alice looked into the headmaster's office. He looked middle-aged, with ice-cold eyes watching her every move.  
"Yes, I did. Please sit down." The man motioned to the chair on the other side of his desk. Alice say down nervously, putting her hands on her lap.  
"I've come to understand you've been trying to summon lately? Any luck?" The man said, looking at her curiously.  
"Um… not really." Alice said, looking away from him uneasily. Did he already know she had summoned Zarkash?  
"Now now, child. You won't get in trouble for using your abilities here. That's what the purpose of this school is. I would just like to know where this creature is."  
"Back in my room." Alice whispered. She looked up at him with wide eyes. "Please don't hurt him, I'm going to send him back when I'm finished here anyway."  
"My dear girl- if you are so attached to this creature, why send him away?"  
"Because he hates me." Alice said sadly. "He hates it here, and can't stand to be around me."  
"Hmm, how unfortunate. Why is it this creature hates you so much?"  
"I don't know. He keeps saying how weak I am, and how I'm going to get eaten soon if it weren't for him. He taunts me all the time about how I'm a stupid girl who doesn't know anything." Alice blinked away the tears burning at her eyes. "I'm so tired of it! I just wanted to summon something, and I get this horrible… thing."  
"Demons are not kind creatures, Alice." The headmaster smiled at Alice's sudden fear at he knew. "Do not worry, I won't tell. Unlike others, I know that demons are two of a kind. What color are his eyes?"  
"Red and yellow. Why?"  
"That is what keeps him different from the others. The sign that a demon is undecided at who or what he is. What color was the demon's eyes that attacked you last night?"  
Alice thought for a minute. "Yellow." She looked up in confusion. "But what does that mean?"  
"That's what I brought you here for. I believe it is time for you to start with your classes, starting with demonology. That class is not normally taught to students of this generation, but I believe it should become available once again. What do you think?" The headmaster leaned forward.  
"Y-yes sir." Alice whispered, surprised by the headmaster's idea.  
"Good. Now, go back to your demon and do what you will. However, know that un-summoning him is just as dangerous as summoning. He may end up like your former tries." The headmaster frowned, and nodded dismissal to Alice.  
Alice walked out of the room silently, closing the door behind her and looking down the long hall toward her room. She would hate herself if Zarkash ended up like that Cherub. What should she do?  
She walked back to her dorm room, her head spinning with questions.


	5. Chapter 5

"Zarkash?" Alice opened the door to her dorm slowly, seeing Zarkash laying on the bed again, his bruised chest still bare as he stared at the ceiling above him. He glanced at her, his eyes a lighter shade than usual.  
"Yeah?" He said in a low tone, then looked away.  
"What do you want to do?" Alice walked into the room, shutting the door behind her softly, and locking it so no one would come in and see Zarkash.  
Zarkash stayed silent for a few minutes, looking up at the ceiling again. "I don't know. What did the head guy say?"  
"He said I should start taking a demonology class." Alice whispered, not liking the tone Zarkash was in. He sounded… strange.  
"Good idea. Humans don't know anything about demons." He sat up, looking down at the bruise again. "Are you ready, then?"  
Alice nodded silently, looking down in concern. "I… don't know how this will turn out, though. I'm not good at it."  
Zarkash looked up at her, his fangs bared in anger. "Before you left you were pretty damn sure you wanted to do it. Why the sudden hesitation?"  
"Because I don't want you to die!" Alice yelled, looking up at him with wide eyes. She looked away again, her cheeks flushed. "Before I summoned you, everything I tried got the creature killed. Contorted, and in pain, they would slowly die somehow. I don't want that to happen to you."  
Zarkash stared at her for a minute. "What did you kill?"  
"Small things, Cherubs and minor angels. I tried summoning anything from the underworld, and I got you."  
Zarkash closed his eyes in frustration with a deep sigh. "We'll try it. This place is too dangerous." He said, standing. "What do I have to do?"  
"Nothing. Just sit back and watch if you want. I'll get ready." Alice whispered, picking up the old book from her desk and opening it to a page at the back of the book. She took her chalk and wrote on the cement ground the runes she had used to summon Zarkash, but backwards and upside down. She finally stood and brushed the chalk dust off her skirt.  
"Alright, step into the middle of the circle." Alice pointed to Zarkash, who moved to the middle of the runes, looking around at them curiously.  
"If it hurts, I'm sorry. I don't know how to do this." Alice whispered, and sat on the ground in front of the circle, raising her arms. Chanting the ritual, her hands started glowing silver, and Zarkash grunted in pain as the runs started glowing. His eyes shot open and dilated as he looked around with wild eyes, wondering how such pain was possible- he had never felt anything like it.  
"A-Ali…" He tried to whisper through clenched teeth and looked up at her to see her eyes closed. He kneeled on the ground, unable to keep standing with such pain weighing on him. Clenching at his twisting stomach, Zarkash yelled in pain, making Alice jump. She continued chanting, knowing that Zarkash wanted this- he wanted to go home.  
Watching him in pain was horrible though. The once strong demon was reduced to wretching on the floor, unable to throw up in his human body because he didn't eat food. She closed her eyes again, the chanting coming from her wavering slightly.  
"STOP!" Zarkash yelled, making Alice stop chanting, and the silver glow to fade. He stayed on his hands and knees in the circle gasping for air, his hair falling over his face so that Alice couldn't see his expression. She bit her lip nervously and moved away slightly as she felt the anger in him building through their mental link. He suddenly looked up at her, his yellow and red eyes blazing until he saw her tears. He sighed and sat on the ground, covering his face with his hand.  
"Guess I'm stuck here." He said, his voice hoarse. He looked down at his hand and swore softly when he saw it was shaking. What kind of demon was he that a simple un-summoning made him shake with effort?  
"I'm sorry." Alice whispered, not able to look at him. She shivered from the cold of the cement floor, but stayed silent. She always felt so cold after trying to use her powers.  
"Hey- it's no big deal." Zarkash looked at her in confusion, not really knowing what else to say.  
"Yes it is, I couldn't even get you home. You're stuck with me, even though you hate me." Alice said, her gaze remaining on the cement at her feet.  
"Who said I hated you?" Zarkash muttered. "You're an annoying girl, and sometimes you're stupid, but I don't hate you."  
Alice looked up with wide eyes. "Then why do you taunt me all the time?"  
"I don't." He sighed, running a hand through his hair uneasily. "Is that what you've been so upset about?"  
"Zarkash, please report to the headmaster's office." The intercom sounded again, making Zarkash blanch in shock, looking up at the speaker in the corner of the room. "What the fuck?" He whispered, his eyes wide. He looked over at Alice, and moved to his feet. "Alright, I guess. I don't know where it is, though." He said, standing on shaking legs. He growled at himself in frustration as he tried to keep his balance, and started walking toward the door. He put his hand on the knob before sighing.  
"Oh yeah, right." He shook his head in frustration, turning into hi cat form and waiting for her to open the door for him.  
"Please, come in." The headmaster said as he was bringing another chair from the corner of the room to in front of his desk. He sat in his own seat behind the desk and waited until both Alice and the rust-colored cat were in the room with the door closed.  
"You may change into any form you'd prefer, Zarkash. I know you're most comfortable in a biped form." The headmaster smiled at Zarkash's confused expression as he turned into his human form.  
"Human, and interesting choice. I hadn't seen you in this form before." The man looked Zarkash over, noticing the bruise on his bare chest. "Battle wounds already? I think you've gotten rusty."  
"Who the hell are you? How do you know me?" Zarkash growled through bared fangs. He looked at the man closely for a minute before freezing, blinking a few times and widening his eyes. "Wait- you can't be him."  
"Oh, but I can. That's the thing with humans, Zarkash. They grow old. Unlike demons, we are not immortal. I will only live for a hundred years, if I'm lucky."  
"Only 100?" Zarkash whispered, glancing sideways to Alice.  
"How do you two know each other?" Alice looked between the two in confusion.  
"I was your father's best friend, my dear. Zarkash was also your father's first summoning. He had quite a battle against Zarkash's enemies. It seems as though events are repeating themselves. Or did you respond to her summoning on purpose, knowing only a Tartush child would be able to summon?"  
"Maybe." Zarkash murmured, looking at the ground.  
"Well, you were right. I suppose you expected him to have a son? Never play with odds, Zarkash- you know that better than most."  
Zarkash looked up with a fierce expression, but calmed. "I suppose I should." He sighed.  
"Wait a minute, I'm so confused! You're my father's friend? And you know Zarkash?" Alice looked between them.  
"This is Jeremy. Or at least that's what I knew him by. Are you still known as that?" Zarkash looked over to the headmaster, who smiled.  
"It looks like you have some learning of your own to do, Zarkash. I have a proposition for you both. After much thought, I've come to the conclusion that we should open the demonology class to other students in the school- anyone who wants to join the class can, although there is a limited number. Alice of course is guarunteed a spot, but I believe I have thought of a way to pick the other students. That's where you come in, Zarkash."  
"Me?" Zarkash looked at the headmaster in confusion.  
"Yes, you. The students here must get used to things they may see over their lifetime that they won't like- including demons. I believe you should help me teach the class, Zarkash."  
"Me? Teach a class?" Zarkash blanched. "I don't know if you remember or not, but I'm not the best speaker."  
"There's no need for you to actually teach. Just tell the class about life in the underworld. What is it like- are there any traditions that may effect how a demon would react to the human world? Things like that. There's no need to be worried about it. Think of it as a different kind of battle- although this time you have to fight with your head instead of your claws."  
"I'd prefer my claws." Zarkash growled, but snorted in discontent. "Fine, I'll do it. But if those kids start whining I'm out of here."  
"Very good. Alice, I also have a proposition for you. I have heard that you have sealed Zarkash's forms."  
Alice looked over to Zarkash and nodded in embarassment.  
"That is no problem dear, especially for one who never was taught how to use her powers correctly. I think that by the final exam of the semester you should have his powers unsealed, right? That will be your final exam for graduation of this year. I believe that is fair, considering that you will be busy with… other matters for most of the time you would otherwise be spending on homework."  
Zarkash nodded, and looked to the headmaster with a dark expression. "Morg knows I'm here, Jeremy. If he's not already in this world, he will be soon."  
"Then we have less time than I thought." The headmaster stood and looked at the two with a serious expression. "This class will be no cake walk. What has arisin is a dire situation that must be dealt with in the most effective and efficient way possible. I will not have my school run in chaos just because a demon decides to pay a visit. Understand?"  
Alice nodded and Zarkash rolled his eyes.  
"Don't be so uptight, Jeremy."  
"I have thousands of children in my care, Zarkash. I can't risk being careless with their lives. You'll understand that someday."  
Zarkash looked at him in confusion and took the silence between them as a dismissal.  
"Alright, I suppose we'll talk to you later."  
"Class starts at 3:00 tomorrow. Be there on time, both of you. And Zarkash- walk into the classroom in your cat form, please."  
Zarkash sighed in frustration and nodded, turning back into a cat before Alice opened the door.  
~I'm sick of this form. It's too puny.~ He growled into her mind, and Alice looked back in surprise as Jeremy chuckled behind them.  
~Don't mind him- psychics always laugh then they hear telepathic messages. It makes them feel important.~ Zarkash whipped his tail at the headmaster, who frowned, but then smiled when he saw both were out of sight.  
"I'm glad they gave you a second chance, Zarkash." He said to himself, and looked down at the papers on his desk, continuing his daily work.


	6. Chapter 6

Alice walked down the hall with Zarkash behind her, looking at the classroom door nervously as she approached it. She hadn't had an actual class for almost half a year now, and the thought of it was starting to make her stomach churn.  
~Don't worry so much, girl. You're making yourself sick.~ Zarkash said telepathically as he ran beside her in his cat form. She opened the door and looked into the room, noticing most of the spots were already taken by students interested in the class. She noticed a familiar pair of black wings and smiled in relief to see Ricky turn around and wave at her, pointing to the desk beside her. Zarkash walked to the front of the room, jumping up to the desk and looking around curiously at the students in front of him.  
"What's he doing here? You're both going to get in trouble!" Ricky whispered to Alice.  
"Don't worry, the headmaster suggested we do this. Zarkash is going to be the assistant teacher in this class."  
"Assistant teacher?" Ricky whispered to himself, looking at the cat skeptically. Zarkash looked to Ricky and smiled wryly, making half the people in the class gasp in shock at seeing a cat smile. He looked around and returned to his cat-like pose, trying his best to act feline. The headmaster walked into the classroom at last, carrying a stack of textbooks in his arms.  
"Alright, everyone come up here- form a line and take one at a time." The headmaster said, setting the stack down next to Zarkash, whose fur bristled at the loud noise. He remained calm, waiting for each student to take one. He saw Alice's nervous expression and resisted smiling again.  
~You'll be fine. Why do you worry so much?~ He said to only her, and waited until they opened the books.  
"Um… sir?" One of the students toward the back of the room raised his hand. "These textbooks are blank. There's nothing on the pages."  
"Presicely. Your first assignment will be to fill that book with as much as you know about demons. This won't be graded, but try to think of all that you can. Fill as many pages as you want, the books are hexed so they won't run out of pages."  
Everyone looked at their book in surprise and took their pens out, writing in silence. Zarkash sighed quietly, watching Alice and Ricky scribble notes down, but most of the class was struggling to think of much. Except for one student toward the back- he was flying across the page, then turning to another page to continue…  
"Is everyone done?" The headmaster nodded in approval when most of the class looked uneasy. "I see you couldn't think of much, right? That's no problem. What you're here to learn is not how evil demons are, or even how to fight them. We are learning how to understand them to better react to them." The headmaster sat at the desk, motioning to Zarkash. "This is our assistant teacher. He may be different than most of you would imagine, but please treat him with respect. If you don't, it'll be you that suffers. Zarkash, would you please turn to your human form?" The headmaster said, hiding a smile of antisipaction behind his folded hands.  
~Gladly.~ Zarkash sighed, hopping off of the desk and slowly shifting to his human form, looking around when most people in the class froze. "My name is Zarkash of the Luxuria level of hell. Yes, I'm a demon. As you can tell, I'm obviously not going to kill you on sight." Zarkash looked around at the people in the classroom as most of them were frozen in either shock or fear. "Oh come on, did you really think a cat was going to help teach you?"  
He watched a girl in a witch hat slowly raise her hand, her eyes wide. "H-how did you get here, Zarkash, sir?"  
"First of all, please don't call me sir. I'm just Zarkash, and nothing I've ever done deserves respect. I was summoned by Alice into this world." Zarkash pointed to Alice as he leaned back on the desk. Most of the class looked at her in surprise and Alice sunk into her chair in embarassment.  
"I've been here before though, summoned by her father- I must say, things have changed since then." Zarkash looked around. "Any questions?"  
"Um… yeah. My dad told me demons live forever- do they?"  
"No, I'll only live for 10,000 years. I'm currently 491 years old, I think. I sometimes lose count." He heard Alice gasp and grinned. "Yeah, I've seen a lot, but I haven't been up here. Things are different down below."  
"Zarkash, why don't you tell the class what hell is like?" The headmaster said, waving for Zarkash to continue.  
"Well it's not pleasant, if that's what you're wondering." Zarkash grumbled. "There's seven levels- named after the major sins. Demons are put into each later based on their personality. I'm… uh… " Zarkash cleared his throat with a blush. "I was put into the Luxuria level."  
"Zarkash, what does Luxuria mean?" Another student asked, forgetting to raise their hand.  
Zarkash blinked for a moment at the question and looked around before muttering "Lust."  
Alice blushed as the girl in the witch hat smiled, raising an eyebrow curiously.  
"Like I said, there are seven levels- Luxuria, Gula, Avaritia, Acedia, Ira, Invidia, and Superbia- in that order. That means, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrathm Envy and Pride. Those demons from the Superbia and Invidia level are the most powerful, and dangerous. They're also the most hostile. Those from Luxuria and Gula are least hostile, but can be just as dangerous. Never underestimate a demon."  
"Do all demons look like you?" Ricky asked.  
"Uh… no. Technically even I don't look like this, but my true form is sealed currently. You'll probably see it sometime later. Hopefully." Zarkash rolled his eyes in frustration.  
"What do you look like normally?" Alice asked quietly. Zarkash looked at her in silence for a minute.  
"I'm a Fomorian demon- out of Irish legends. A Fomorian demon is one in charge of animals, so it's kind of hard to describe, but think animal. My kind was defeated by the Tuatha De Dannan in Ireland thousands of years ago, and forced into hell."  
Alice nodded silently.  
"I hope you're writing this down, kids. He's most likely not going to say it again." The headmaster warned, and everyone in the class started scribbling notes down.  
"Alright, um… who can tell me what kinds of demons there are? Does anyone know? Other than Fomorian, of course. That's cheating." Zarkash looked around the room as he crossed his arms over his chest.  
He nodded to a student at the back of the room, who blanched at being called on. "Um… uh… Minotaur, Manticore, Basilisk, Gorgon… um…" The student blushed as he tried to think of more.  
"That's actually pretty good. You missed the really bad ones though. First- dragons. Wouldn't think they're demons, would you? They are, and they're the worst demon you can ever face. If I went up against a dragon, I'd be toast." Zarkash looked down. "Literally." He looked back up. "There's also the Wyvern and Cockatrice, though they aren't nearly as bad. Especially the cockatrice- all they want to do is eat." He snickered. "Speaking of which. Do any of you know what demons eat?"  
"You have to eat?"  
"Well yeah, for the same reasons you do." Zarkash looked around, smiling when he saw Alice hold the side of her neck and sink into her seat. ~Don't worry, I won't ask you.~ he assured her.  
"Meat?" Ricky asked.  
Zarkash cringed, a shudder going up his spine at the thought. "Uh… no. Ew. I've never even thought of eating meat in my life- but dragons eat meat. Only meat. Cockatrice only eat meat as well."  
"Do you eat souls?" Another student asked.  
Zarkash laughed, shaking his head. "No, I don't eat souls. No demon does."  
The class stayed silent as they thought of what he could possibly eat.  
"I'll tell you a secret. Vampires don't exist. So where do you think they got that idea from?" Zarkash asked.  
"You drink blood?" Ricky said in horror. He glanced to Alice, who blushed and looked away.  
"Bingo. I drink only blood. Nothing else. Regular food makes me sick, and I just puke it back up. Though the more magic in the blood, the better it tastes. Animal blood is the equivilant to your pouridge, and magic blood is like a driple layer chocolate cake. Understand?" Zarkash looked around at nervous faces. "Don't worry, I don't drink very often, and it won't come from any of you."  
"So, have you ever seen a soul?" the witch girl asked, looking very amused.  
"No, I'm not allowed into that part of hell. Those are devils, not demons. Big difference."  
"Then where do souls go if they go to hell?" One student asked.  
Zarkash paused, looking back to the headmaster for reassurance. "I don't think I should tell you that."  
"No, that is not the subject of this class. Students- how about we give Zarkash a break and I'll teach you for a while?" The headmaster stood, making Zarkash sigh in relief and take his place in the chair.  
"Now then, we'll discuss the different legends associated with each species of demon, and determine which is true, and which is not…" The headmaster opened a book in his hands, putting a pair of glasses over his eyes before he started reading.  
"Fuck, I'm so tired." Zarkash flopped back onto the bed back in Alice's dorm. He looked up as Alice sat at her desk, taking out her book from class and turning to her notes. She sighed before starting to write on another paper.  
"What are you doing?" Zarkash sat up to try and see what she was writing.  
"Homework. We're supposed to write down what legends we've heard about what demons. Then we're supposed to say if it's true or not."  
"Hmm, good idea. A lot of it's bull shit." Zarkash chuckled. He looked up at the ceiling as his smile faded into a frown, the silence between the lengthening.  
"Will you really only live for a hundred years?" He asked, looking over to Alice.  
"Uh, yeah. If that." Alice said, looking at him curiously. Zarkash furrowed his eyebrows, returning his gaze to the ceiling. They both looked up as a knock sounded at the door, and an unfamiliar voice asked if anyone was inside. It sounded male.  
"What he hell is a guy doing in these halls?" Zarkash grumbled and walked over to the door, opening it. He looked down at a student from the demonology class, who was starting back up at him with yellow eyes.  
"Zarkash, I was wondering if you could tell me if dragons can really breathe fire? The headmaster forgot to mention that."  
"Uh, yeah. They can." Zarkash said, watching the kid walk back down the hall while scribbling in his book. What a weird guy. He had stayed silent for most of the class, and acted like he already knew a lot about demons.  
"That guy's new." Alice said, seeing Zarkash's curious expression. "He only got here a week ago."  
Zarkash nodded thoughtfully before closing the door to the dorm and locking it. "How did he know where your dorm was?"  
"Oh, the headmaster told all the students where to find you if they had questions about homework." Alice said, continuing her writing.  
Zarkash put a hand on his face in frustrationg, his ears drooping. "I'll have to talk to him about that. That's really not a good idea." Zarkash growled and flopped back onto the bed, leaning against the pillows behind him. He wondered if he should ask Alice to heal his bruise or not…  
No, last time he did that he let his guard down way too much for his own good. He grumbled before leaned back again and looked down at the purple mass on his chest before closing his eyes in frustration.  
"Alice, can you… heal the bruise? It's not getting better." Zarkash muttered.  
"Oh, sure." Alice said, standing from the desk and walking over to the bed. She sat on the edge of the bed, putting both her hands on his chest, flushing at the feel of his bare skin. She concentrated and Zarkash sighed as the throbbing pain vanished, leaning back in the pillows behind him with his eyes closed in content. When Alice finished his eyes shot open and he sat up again, looking around the room awkwardly.  
"Thanks." He muttered, seeing that the bruise was gone from his chest.  
"No problem." Alice said happily, standing and walking back over to her desk. Zarkash smiled as he watched her work, looking away whenever she glanced at him.


	7. Chapter 7

~If I'm a teacher, why the hell do I have to go out in the halls in my cat form? The students have seen me, I should be fine.~ Zarkash growled as he waited at the door for Alice.  
"Because there are students that don't even know you're in the school, Zarkash. What if one of them totally freaks out, and tells the council of magic about you? You'll get taken and experimented on or something."  
Zarkash looked at her with wide eyes. ~They do that?~  
"Of course. They don't know anything about demons. Like- how do you live on only blood? Is your digestive system the same as a human's? Stuff like that." Alice looked around the room for her wallet, biting her lip nervously when she didn't see it.  
~It's in the drawer.~ Zarkash rolled his eyes, knowing what she was looking for by her frantic expression. ~Forgetful girl. You'd lose your head if it weren't attached to your neck.~  
Alice looked up in surprise and smiled at the very familiar comment. Her father had told it to her many times when she was little. The more she thought about her father, the sadder she became.  
~Ah- hey-~ Zarkash said uneasily, feeling the sorrow building in her through their mental link.  
"Oh, I'm okay." Alice smiled, looking into the drawer, grabbing her purse and walking quickly out the door. Zarkash followed and kicked the door shut with his hind leg, watching Alice walk stiffly down the hall in confusion.

Alice looked around the cafeteria, noticing with amusement that Ricky was sitting by Mio, the witch he usually stood by in his flight class. She stood in line, waiting to get her tray as Zarkash sat beside her, occasionally walking forward when the line moved. He looked up at the person in front of her, noticing it was the boy from the demonology class.  
~Hey, boy!~ Zarkash spoke to the boy, who looked around in surprise before looking down and seeing Zarkash.  
"Oh, hi sir. I didn't see you there." He said uneasily.  
~Don't worry about it. In this puny form I don't expect anyone to see me right away.~ Zarkash growled in frustration. ~Did you get your homework done well?~  
"Ah- yes sir. Thanks for the help. My name is Suro Fog Pebiarm, by the way. But everyone calls me Suro." The boy looked to Zarkash with his yellow eyes, before looking up to Alice. "And you must be Alice, his summoner." Suro took Alice's hand, bowed and kissed it softly. "A pleasure to meet you, my lady."  
Alice blushed at the action as Zarkash bristled in anger. Suro saw their expressions and brought his hands up defensively."I didn't mean anything by it- it's a custom where I come from when we meet a woman to do that. I didn't offend you, did I?" Suro looked to Alice with wide eyes.  
"No, I just wasn't expecting it, I suppose." Alice giggled.  
"Good. I really didn't mean to make anyone angry." Suro sighed in relief, looking down to Zarkash. "So Zarkash, what are we learning in the next class?"  
~No idea. I usually wing it.~ Zarkash shrugged. Alice chuckled as Suro turned surprised.  
"I thought all classes were supposed to follow a curriculum, though?"  
~Yeah well, this one doesn't. I usually just tell you guys about my life and call it good.~  
Suro nodded, looking up as the line moved toward where he got the food onto his tray. He picked up one of the plates of meatloaf and green beans, sighing in frustration at the food handed to him. Alice took her own share, walking over to Suro as he started to walk away.  
"Hey Suro, why don't you sit at the table with us? There's plenty of room." Alice smiled, relieved to see Suro smile back.  
"Sure, I'd like that." He grinned happily, walking with Alice over to the table Ricky and Mio were already sitting at.  
Alice sat down next to Ricky, who looked in annoyance to Zarkash as he jumped up onto the table.  
"Don't sit on the table, Zarkash. That's nasty." He muttered, his wings drooping as he picked at his food.  
~Don't complain, pussy-boy. I can sit wherever I want to.~ Zarkash hissed. Alice leaned over near Zarkash and gasped before covering her mouth and moving away again.  
"Actually Zarkash, sit on the bench next to me until you take a bath later." She tapped the bench beside her.  
Zarkash looked at her, his eyes flashing in anger. ~You can't tell me what to do you stupid girl- I'm not taking a fucking bath. I'm fine as I am.~ He growled.  
"You do smell pretty bad sir, sorry." Suro said uneasily, looking at the grime sticking to Zarkash's fur.  
~What is wrong with you people?! I'm fine!~ Zarkash yelled to all of them, making them flinch as he sat on the bench next to Alice, brooding.  
"I think he's aquaphobic." Alice whispered to Suro, whose eyes widened and nodded, glancing down to Zarkash.  
~I can here you, stupid girl. I'm not afraid of water, I just don't like it.~ He muttered.  
"Either way, you're taking a bath tonight. That's that." Alice said, looking down at Zarkash with a stern expression.  
~Make me.~ Zarkash sneered.  
Alice grinned as well, her eyes flashing at the challenge. She pinched her arm hard, knowing Zarkash would feel it as well. He jumped, glaring at her with angry eyes until she pinched herself again, making him growl in frustration.  
~THIS IS NO WAY TO TREAT A DEMON!~ Zarkash yelled, lashing out and scratching her on the arm before running out of the cafeteria. Alice hissed in pain and held the bleeding scratches, glaring after Zarkash with eyes burning from the pain. "Stupid demon." She whispered, looking down at the long gashes on her arm.  
"You really need to beat him into line or something." Ricky muttered, standing and walking over to Alice to examine the scratches. He brought a hand up and it glowed a strange black hue for a moment, before quickly fading. "There, you don't feel it for a while now. I can't heal, but I can at least make it feel better." Ricky said, looking into Alice's sad eyes. "Has he been like that this whole time?"  
"No, not all the time." She whispered.  
"Why does he treat you like that? You'd think a summoned creature would care more for its master." Suro said thoughtfully.  
"I have no idea. He's been like that since he came here." Alice whispered.  
"Maybe it's something about his past. Has he told you anything?" Suro looked at her in concern.  
"No, not really. The only thing I've heard about his past is what he's said in class."  
"I think it's time you asked him about that, sugar. It's no good sitting in the dark in a situation like that." Mio said, her green eyes glinting.  
"I guess. It might just make him more angry, though." Alice said uneasily.  
"Then just ignore him. He'll settle down eventually." Ricky patted Alice on the back comfortingly. "He's not worth being this upset about. Just worry about yourself for now."  
Alice nodded, looking toward the doorway, but saw no sign of Zarkash. She nodded, eating her lunch in silence as the other talked around her, occasionally glancing in her direction uneasily.

Alice looked up at one of the large windows lining the hallway, noticing how much it was raining outside. She started walking back to her dorm room, but looked back outside the window as a green flash shone through the rain-battered glass. She looked closer at the field below, noticing two figures standing in the pouring rain, one of them a large creature of some sort. The other one was kneeling on the ground, holding his arm. Alice flinched and looked down at her arm as a long gash started forming on her skin. She gasped and ran down the stairs, hoping Zarkash was okay fighting against that… whatever it was. She burst into the rain, looking around for Zarkash, only to see him jump out of the creatures way as it charged him again.  
"Zarkash!" Alice yelled, running toward him as the creature turned around to run back at him. Zarkash looked up at her in surprise and waved his hand for her to stay away as the creature looked at her with fierce yellow eyes.  
"Ah, hello mortal girl." The creature sneered, its silver teeth flashing in a deadly grin as he stared at Alice with wide eyes. He looked like a mixture between a horse and an iguana- long legs with clawed feet, a series of deadly looking spikes sprouting from his back and a long lashing tail. Alice gasped as her mind froze, her eyes frozen wide as she collapsed on the ground from the creature's stare. She heard the creature's loud laughter, but was frozen in place on the ground, unable to move at all.  
"Damn you, Dudrom. She's not involved in this." Zarkash hissed, looking over at the basilisk with a glare of hatred, but careful not to look into the creature's eyes.  
"Nonsense, Zarkash. She summoned you here, so she is obviously important to you. Why do you not kill me like you did Golorne?" Dudrom snickered, circling around Zarkash in the pouring rain.  
Zarkash stayed silent, not wanting to tell Dudrom that he hadn't been unsealed yet- this would be much harder than he thought it would be.  
"Why would you wait out here, anyway? Are you not supposed to be with your summoner at all times? What if I had attacked her instead?" The basilisk grinned, glancing over to Alice.  
"Don't even think about it." Zarkash snarled, standing in front of Alice protectively.  
"Ah- so you do have to protect her. I was hoping you would." The demon laughed, rushing toward Zarkash with his claws bared toward his chest. Zarkash knew that if he moved the demon would hurt Alice instead, so he stayed his ground, bending to prepare himself to take the charge head-on. He flinched as Dudrom's claws dug into his shoulders, grinning up at the demon as he put both hands on the basilisk's chest, slamming his magic into the creature's heart. Dudrom screamed in pain, staring at Zarkash with wide eyes as he stumbled backwards, looking down at the blackened skin on his chest.  
"Very clever, Zarkash." The demon growled, looking over to the girl on the ground, paralyzed from his gaze. "It looks like your human isn't doing so well, though. She's losing a lot of blood."  
Zarkash glanced over to Alice, hissing in fear as he saw the blood pouring out of the new wounds on her shoulders. He saw her still, his eyes widening in fear as she lay completely silent for far too long. He looked down at his hands as they started glowing silver, telling him that he had once again been unsealed.  
"Alright Dudrom, time's up." Zarkash growled, shifting into his natural demon form, and rushing at the basilisk. Dudrom faltered and started turning to run before Zarkash grabbed him by the shoulders, whipping him around with a snarl and shoving his claws deep into the creature's chest. He ripped through flesh until he tore the demon's heart out, kicking the corpse away before rushing over to Alice. He had to be fast, but who could he go to? He looked down at her pale face and swore harshly, shifting into his human-like form as he sprinted into the school, ignoring his own wounds as he searched for someone to help Alice. She was losing far too much blood- he would be alright, he was much more durable than the girl.  
He saw Suro at the end of the hall, and ran toward him, his eyes frantic.  
"Kid- uh, Suro- Please, help her. I don't know how." Zarkash looked down to Alice as she started coughing for breath.  
"What the hell happened?" Suro looked down at the deep wounds on Alice's chest and arms.  
"A demon attacked me. Please- just help her. She's getting quiet." Zarkash felt the bond between them grow weaker, his insides strangely twisting at the thought of her dying.  
"Alright, follow me." Suro said, running down the hall toward his room, glancing back occasionally to make sure Zarkash was still following him.


	8. Chapter 8

Zarkash set Alice carefully down on the bed in Suro's room, looking up at the boy. "How is she? Will she be okay?"  
"Calm down, just let me look her over." Suro looked at Alice with a frown. "She's lost a lot of blood. She may have to go to a hospital."  
"A hospital?" Zarkash said in confusion, looking at Alice. "Whatever- how do I get there?"  
"You can't just run there." Suro looked at Zarkash as if he were crazy.  
"Fine. I'll just go see Jeremy then." Zarkash said in a rush, running down the hall toward the headmaster's office. He burst into the room to see Jeremy sitting at the desk, looking up in shock at Zarkash.  
"What happened?" The headmaster stood, walking quickly over to Zarkash to examine his wounds.  
"Alice- she's really hurt. I don't know what to do." Zarkash said quickly, grabbing the headmaster's wrist and pulling him down the hall towards Suro's room. "Suro said she needed something called a hospital- what is that?"  
"Wait a second, Zarkash!" Jeremy said harshly, pulling himself out of Zarkash's grip and walking over to one of the phones in the classrooms. He dialed and had a short conversation before hanging up.  
"There. Calm down, fuzz-ball- bring her to the health ward on the top level of the school. The nurses there will take care of her." Jeremy watched Zarkash nod and sprint off down the hall with a wry smile.  
Zarkash burst into Suro's room, looking at Suro in confusion as he leaned over Alice's face, glancing up with a blush as Zarkash came into the room. Zarkash let out a fierce growl and shoved Suro aside, picking up Alice and looking back one last time to Suro before he ran out the door to the staircase. He could feel the strain of her spirit to stay with her body as he rushed up the stairs of the school, ignoring the student's stares as he ran. This couldn't happen to him again- he had promised himself never to let this happen again. How could he have been so reckless? He growled in frustration as he ran up another flight of stairs. He ran toward a set of white double doors, pushing them open with his side as he rushed into the room. He saw women gathered around a table in the corner, who all stood in surprise at the sight of the blood-covered demon holding a wounded girl in his arms. They directed him to a bed and he set her down gently, moving back as the group of nurses descended on Alice to keep her stabilized. He watched as they took a packet of blood from another room and hooked it up to her, streaming the liquid into her arm as they bandaged her shoulders. He sat on the bed behind him, knowing she was in the best care she could be in now. He put a hand to his forehead as his head started calming, only now just realizing how ragged his breath was from the emotion pouring into him. How could he have let this happen?  
"Sir?"  
Zarkash looked up as one of the nurses looked down at him in concern.  
"Are you alright? We should look to your wounds too." The woman pointed to the deep gashes also on his shoulders.  
"Don't worry about me, just pay attention to her." Zarkash said, his voice raspy. The nurse shook her head and grabbed him by one of his long pointed ears, dragging him over to the bed beside Alice.  
"I'll not have a wounded man just sitting in my ward. It's against my nature." The woman said sternly, and started bandaging Zarkash's wounds. He refused to let them hook up blood to him though, instead he just took the package and tore it open, drinking the contents much to the nurse's horror.  
The nurse pushed him back so that he was lying down, telling him to stay put with a stern glare. He sighed and glanced over to Alice as she silently lay still on the other bed, hooked up to several machines that monitored her vitals and tubes hooked up to her to keep her hydrated. He saw the scratch marks on her arm from earlier and looked away in shame. He hadn't meant to hurt her, just to swipe at her. The fact that he had actually scratched her made a deep dread settle in his stomach. He didn't want to get close to her- he had to avoid it at all costs for her own good. How could he let her know that without hurting her even more? He sighed and laid back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully.  
"Hello, Zarkash." Zarkash woke to the headmaster beside his bed, looking very smug. "Did you have a good sleep?"  
"Yeah, until you woke me up." Zarkash flinched as he tried to sit up, disturbing the bandages on his shoulders.  
"Ah, very good. I was wondering if you will be able to make it to class today?" The headmaster smiled at Zarkash's hesitation. "Alice of course will stay here. She's in good hands."  
"She didn't wake up all night." Zarkash said, glancing over to her still body.  
"She'll be alright. The nurses here are very capable."  
Zarkash glanced over to Alice before sighing. "So I have to leave her along here?"  
"You should. The class needs you there today, and it's doing no good to watch her every minute she's asleep."  
Zarkash nodded and stood, glancing to Alice before following the headmaster out the door.  
Zarkash ignored the stares of all the students as he walked into the classroom, sitting on the desk and stayed silent for several long minutes. "Who has questions? I know you do." He muttered, shifting his shoulders as several students raised their hands, including Ricky.  
"Yeah?" Zarkash pointed to Ricky, who stared at him accusingly.  
"What happened to you, and where's Alice?" He asked, his wings drooping in concern.  
"We were attacked by a basilisk. Well, I was at least. A summoner and its creature shares a link that's both mental and physical. When I get hurt, Alice gets hurt and vise versa."  
"So she has the same injuries as you? They look pretty bad." Mio said nervously.  
"Yeah. Alright, anything else?" Zarkash said sadly, looking around the room, but seeing no more raised hands. "I guess we'll talk about this kind of thing, then. Believe it or not, demons are pretty social creatures. They live in clans filled with different species, with a leader directing them on what to do. Golorne and Dudrom were both part of the same clan. I'm an enemy of that clan because I pissed off the leader."  
"What did you do?" Mio asked, her voice soft.  
"I messed with his woman, and got her killed because of it."  
The class sat in shocked silence.  
"She died? How?" Mio whispered.  
"I'm a demon of Luxuria- she was a demon of Superbia. Demons are forbidden from crossing levels, so she was killed by her own kind. Because she wanted to see me." Zarkash looked down sadly as he remembered the dragons ripping her limb-from-limb, her screams still echoing through his mind. Zarkash continued, his voice cracking. "Demons can be cruel. The leader killed his mate because she had been tainted by a lesser demon."  
"Do you regret meeting her?" Suro asked, his yellow eyes wide.  
"No. I just regret making her think she should try to come to Luxuria. She should have stayed with Morg."  
Suro nodded solemnly as the headmaster stood from his desk.  
"Alright students, take out your books now- let's give Zarkash a break." Jeremy glanced to Zarkash in concern.  
Zarkash sighed in relief, not liking to talk about his past- it hurt him too much to remember.  
"We'll talk about the similarities between the demon's behaviors and your average human's…"  
Zarkash walked through the hall in his demon form, Ricky and Suro walking beside him as they went to the health ward to check on Alice  
"So he ripped up your shoulders and arm? Alice was losing a lot of blood when you brought her to me last night." Suro said, glancing at Ricky's angry expression.  
"Yeah. I had gone out to calm down after Alice pissed me off at lunch. I had been fighting him for quite a while before she ran over. She wouldn't stay away."  
"You don't want her near you?" Ricky said in confusion.  
"I tend to get women hurt. I don't want Alice to get hurt too." Zarkash said sadly, but suddenly looked up in surprise.  
"She's waking up." He grinned happily and turned around, running up the flight of stairs to the health ward, Suro and Ricky close behind. Zarkash ran over to the bed Alice was lying on, skidding to his knees beside the mattress as the nurse too the IV's our of her arm.  
"Alice?" Zarkash asked, looking down at her flushed face, glad to see her skin had its normal color back. Ricky and Suro stood behind him as Alice opened her eyes slowly, looking around in confusion. She stayed still, a frightened squeak coming from her as her eyes widened.  
"Oh, right." Zarkash stood and looked around for a minute before bringing over a tray and reflecting Alice's image back to herself. She sighed in relief and relaxed, looking over to Ricky and Suro curiously.  
"What happened/" Alice whispered, wondering why Zarkash was looking so relieved.  
"You ran into a battle with a basilisk, you silly woman." Zarkash said, looking Alice over to see if she was till bleeding anywhere.  
"Oh yeah. You hurt your arm- is it okay?" Alice sat up, flinching before she laid back down.  
"Stay still, stupid. You're going to hurt yourself more." Zarkash pushed her back down, careful not to touch her wounds. "I'm fine- you're the one that got torn up."  
"Alice- are you feeling okay?" Ricky took her hand for comfort, glad to feel warmth and a steady heartbeat.  
"Yeah, just in some pain. I'm fine, though."  
"Here." Ricky poured his magic into her, negating the pain.  
"Thanks." Alice smiled, looking up to Suro's concerned expression.  
"Are you still bleeding anywhere? I could bring you some more bandages." He said uneasily.  
"No, I'm fine- really guys- I'm okay!" Alice laughed.  
Ricky looked up at the clock on the wall and swore softly. "I have flight class soon, but I'll be back later, okay?" He said reluctantly.  
"I have dark arts class, too. Are you sure you don't need more bandages?" Suro insisted, leaning closer to her.  
"Go to class boys, I'll be fine. Don't you dare be late because of me." Alice said sternly, and Ricky and Suro reluctantly left the ward to get to class.  
Zarkash watched her for a minute, looking away when she tilted her head in question. "So you're not angry with me still?"  
"Angry?" Alice thought for a minute before remembering lunch that day. "Oh yeah- no, I'm not angry with you Zarkash. I just wish you'd be nicer to my friends." She said, setting a hand on his head in comfort, resting her palm against the red hair between his horns. Zarkash flinched at the touch, but stayed still.  
"I didn't mean to scratch you." He said, his voice low as he looked at the ground uneasily. "I'm not used to talking with others still. I mostly kept to myself until you summoned me."  
"Well then we'll just have to get you used to others again." Alice smiled at Zarkash's surprised expression. "You can't just stay in my room the entire time you're here, Zarkash. You have to be able to communicate with people without yelling."  
Zarkash sighed and nodded, just glad that Alice was safe again. "Can you heal yourself?"  
"Ah, no. That's the only limit to that power. I can't heal myself, only others." Alice shrugged.  
Zarkash swore, knowing the wounds he made her get would take a long while to heal.  
"I just hope I don't have really bad scars." Alice said uneasily, looking down at the bandages on her shoulders.  
"Why do you not want scars?" Zarkash looked up at her in confusion.  
"Because they're ugly, and… I don't know." Alice sighed.  
"You're afraid you'll look bad? Don't worry about it." Zarkash smiled weakly.  
"There you go, I'm glad to see you still smiling. You look really pitiful when you sulk, Zarkash." Alice smiled.  
"I don't sulk. I'm just… tired." He said sternly, looking at her for a minute before glancing to the doors. "Will you be staying here then?"  
"Yes, she will. She's not to leave the ward until I give her permission. You too, demon. You can't heal yourself, so it's my job to patch you up." The nurse said, pointing to the bed Zarkash had been laying on earlier. "You shouldn't have left in the first place, class or not."  
Zarkash growled in frustration and walked over to the bed, sitting against the wall behind it. "Next time you see my fighting something, stay away- okay?" Zarkash glanced to Alice.  
"Like Hell I will. You're not fighting anything without me around. Who would watch your back?" Alice smirked, stretching her arms but flinching.  
"Stupid." Zarkash chuckled, and laid back against the pillow, watching the rain fall onto the windows of the health ward.


	9. Chapter 9

"I hate just sitting in here." Zarkash grumbled the next morning, having woken up before Alice. He looked around the ward to see the nurses all busy elsewhere. He glanced over to Alice, smiling when he saw her wrapped up in her blankets like a cocoon. It was starting to get cold this morning for some reason…  
Zarkash took his own blanket and brought it over to Alice, setting it over her and watching her sleep peacefully. He had never expected something like this to happen when he had been summoned. He had thought it would be like before- fighting with his master against enemies and reveling in battle.  
Instead he had gotten a shy girl who was far too sweet for her own good. How was he supposed to cope with this?  
He glanced down at her long blond hair tumbling over the side of the bed, making a golden halo around her face. In the light that was streaming through the windows, it almost looked like she was glowing. He reached out a hand slowly, watching to make sure she didn't wake before running his hand through the locks of her blond hair. Zarkash's eyes widened at the feel of such softness- like strands of silk. He quickly took his hand away as she stirred, watching as her eyes fluttered open.  
"Oh, hi Zarkash." She smiled up at him, making his chest twist painfully.  
"Hey." He smiled back, sitting on the edge of her mattress. "Are you feeling okay this morning?"  
"Yep." Alice smiled, but then frowned at the sight of his seeping wounds. "You haven't stopped bleeding yet?"  
"No, I haven't. Demons heal a lot slower than humans, so it'll probably take a while."  
Alice scoffed in disapproval and ignored Zarkash's protests as she tried to stand. She wobbled on unsteady legs and started falling, but was caught in Zarkash's arms before she hit the ground.  
"I don't think you're in any condition to use magic." Zarkash chuckled, smirking at her blush as she leaned against his bare chest. They stayed completely still for a minute before Zarkash shook his head and brought her back over to her bed, setting her down on the mattress and looking away.  
Alice looked up at him in confusion and looked down uneasily, scooting back on the mattress and settling the skirt of her hospital gown down around her legs. Zarkash sighed, noticing the hurt in her eyes from being pushed away like that.  
"I should probably tell you more about her, but I don't want you to be angry with me." He muttered.  
"Her? Who's her?" Alice said softly, her purple eyes wide in confusion.  
"Irtasha. She was a demon that I befriended while in hell. She got killed because of me."  
Alice stayed silent, hoping he would continue.  
"She was Morg's mate. When I was little, I had to constantly defend myself, and she decided to help me. When she tried to come to Luxuria, she was killed by dragons because they thought she had betrayed their clan. It was my fault she was killed like she was- I don't want you to get hurt too."  
Alice nodded, smiling softly. "Silly demon, it wasn't your fault."  
Zarkash looked up in surprise. "Of course it was."  
"Did you force her to come to you?"  
"No."  
"Did she come on her own?"  
"Yeah."  
"Then why do you blame yourself? She knew the risk, and she wanted to help you."  
Zarkash stared at her in shock for a minute. "I don't think I could have stopped her from coming even if I knew she was on her way." He said thoughtfully.  
"Then she acted on her own, and you shouldn't think it's your fault. She just wanted to protect you." She smiled softly.  
"Morg blames me, he sent all his demons to kill me and now they'll try to kill you too." He said sadly.  
"Then you'll just have to protect me." She chuckled, standing again and this time keeping her balance. Zarkash smiled warmly down at her and pulled her into his arms, burying his face in her hair.  
"I'll protect you, Alice. I won't let Morg take you."  
He said softly into her hair as Alice blushed. "Good." She smiled, and relaxed in his grip. She remembered what her father had told her when she had first shown signs of magic- to never get close to that which you summon. She bit her lip nervously at the fact that she was getting far more closer to Zarkash than was allowed. She felt him shift so that his chin was resting against the top of her head, and he let out a loud sigh that echoed through his chest.  
"I don't really know how to say this, but it feels wrong and right at the same time." He moved away from her, looking down at her face. "I'm thinking you feel the same way?"  
Alice nodded, a flush coming over her face at what he was hinting at. Did he really feel that much for her, even though he had only been with her for a few weeks? Then again he was from the Luxuria level.  
"You think too much." Zarkash chuckled, setting his forehead against hers and moving away again. "You should lay back down. Since you can't heal yourself, it'll take a while for those to close." He said with a slight frown.  
"That wasn't your fault either." Alice said sternly, making Zarkash look at her in surprise. "And I didn't have to read your mind to know you were thinking that."  
Zarkask blinked in surprise for a minute before smiling wryly. "This time it was, though. I should have been faster to avoid those claws of his."  
"And yet you beat him- so it doesn't matter." Alice shrugged.  
Zarkash frowned. "Of course it matters, look at your shoulders. Those won't heal for a long while, Alice."  
"Then I'll just have to live with it." Alice shrugged.  
Zarkash snorted, knowing she was acting tougher than she really felt. He looked up as the doors of the ward came open, revealing Ricky walking into the room.  
"Alice- are you feeling better today?" Ricky asked as he walked over, glancing at Zarkash before looking back to Alice.  
"I'm fine. The bleeding stopped and I feel much better now." Alice smiled.  
"That's great." Ricky said in relief, hugging Alice to him gently, avoiding her wounds. "I was really worried about you. You didn't look too good yesterday."  
Zarkash bristled at the contact, but calmed when Alice smiled, looking relaxed. "Don't worry about me so much. You should know more than anyone that I'm more durable than I look."  
"Just don't test yourself too often, okay? You always get yourself hurt and then sit there and mope while you heal." Ricky smirked.  
"And you always tease me for it. I'll be fine- just a few more scrapes to add to my collection." Alice giggled, making Ricky ruffle her hair playfully.  
"You're such a hassle, sis." Ricky smirked, looking over to Zarkash's surprised expression.  
"You two are brother and sister, then?" He said, feeling slightly relieved at the fact. No wonder they seemed so close.  
"Technically, no. She's not actually related to me, but-" Ricky began, but stopped when Alice put a hand on his shoulder.  
"I'll explain it." Alice smiled to Ricky, who nodded. "When my father died when I was eight, I was left an orphan. My mother had died long before that, and I don't really remember her at all. Ricky's family volunteered to take me in, and took care of me ever since then. Ricky's like my older brother. He's always looked out for me." Alice smiled, putting an arm around Ricky's shoulder.  
"And I'll keep looking out for her." He said sternly, locking eyes with Zarkash. "If you hurt her, demon- I swear I'll-"  
"Ricky! He hasn't done anything bad." Alice said, confused by the sudden tension between the two.  
"You don't have to worry about that. I'm protecting Alice." Zarkash said, his voice laced with a slight growl.  
"That's not what I meant." Ricky's eyes narrowed angrily.  
"Guys- please calm down!" Alice put a hand on both of their chest's, trying to keep them away from each other.  
"That's none of your business, pussy-boy." Zarkash hissed, his eyes flashing.  
"She's my sister- of course it is. I only want what's best for her."  
"Then stay out of this- let her lead her own life."  
"I am- but the way you've been looking at her, talking with her- it's wrong. You're a demon, she's a human- she'll die before you even blink an eye." Ricky growled, but ducked as Zarkash let out a fierce growl, swinging a punch at his face. Ricky swung back, connecting with Zarkash's jaw as Zarkash lashed out again, but hit Alice on the shoulder, who cried out in pain and fell to the ground, clutching at her bandages.  
"Bastard!" Ricky yelled, holding out his palm as a sphere of black magic formed, shooting out to Zarkash's chest and knocking him across the room. Ricky kneeled next to Alice, sitting her up to look at the wounds on her arm, which had began to bleed again from Zarkash.  
Zarkash held his head as he sat up, looking at Alice in concern. "Is she okay?"  
"She's bleeding again you damn demon." Ricky glared at Zarkash as he brought Alice back over to her bed, setting her down gently on the mattress. Alice flinched at being moved, and sighed in frustration as she felt blood seep through her bandages and onto her palm. She closed her eyes at the pain and glanced over to Zarkash, who was slumped against the wall, his hair covering his face.  
~It was an accident. I'm fine.~ Alice said to Zarkash through their private link, and Zarkash looked up at her, his red and yellow eyes sad.  
~You keep getting hurt around me.~  
~Which is all an accident. I know you wouldn't hurt me on purpose.~ She tried to soothe him through her own pain, gritting her teeth as blood flowed down her arm.  
Zarkash stood and walked over, standing on the other side of the bed from Ricky.  
"Stay away from her." Ricky growled, his wings raising slightly in anger.  
"I couldn't even if I wanted to. I'm summoned, remember?" Zarkash pointed to the symbol on his cheek, and glanced down to Alice. "If I'm away from her for too long, bad things will happen."  
"Then just don't talk to her- she doesn't need you to be around to keep hurting her."  
"She can choose what she wants. If she wants me to go, she can unsummon me and be done with it. Until then, I'm staying with her." Zarkash said, and looked at Ricky with flashing eyes.  
Alice let out a loud groan of frustration and stood up, storming across the room to the far set of doors.  
"Where are you going?" Ricky asked in surprise.  
"To take a shower, and wash my hair. You two are impossible to deal with." Alice glared back at them over her shoulder.  
Ricky threw up his hands in frustration and glared at Zarkash one last time before exiting the room, grumbling to himself.  
Zarkash sighed and looked over to the door Alice had gone through, hearing water running from within it. He stood at the window, watching clouds gather as a cold breeze made him shiver. Why was it getting so cold?


	10. Chapter 10

Alice sighed in relief as she wrapped the towel around her, looking down at the open wounds on her shoulders in dismay. They would definitely scar, but she didn't want to upset Zarkash and so kept the thought out of her mind. Before leaving the room she made sure her towel was secure, biting her lip nervously at walking in front of him in a towel. There was no other way, though- her clothes were still out by her bed in her rush to get away from the two men arguing.  
She closed her eyes in anticipation and opened the door, walking quickly out into the large room, striding uneasily down the rows of beds. She looked around for Zarkash, but saw him looking out one of the windows, with an expression of confusion.  
"What's wrong?" She asked, wondering if he saw another demon outside.  
"What's this white stuff?" Zarkash turned around to point out the window, but froze when he saw her, his eyes widening. He turned back around again, clearing his throat uneasily. "It's strange." He muttered.  
"Oh, that's just snow. It's November, so it's about the right time to have our first snowfall." Alice said casually, picking up her clothes from the table. "You've never seen snow?"  
"Your father dismissed me during the summer, I guess. It was a lot warmer when I was last here."  
Alice nodded and scurried back to the bathroom, coming out again fully clothed. She walked over to Zarkash as he stared out the window, touching him on the shoulder and making him jump. He looked back at her and seemed relieved to see her fully clothed.  
"So it's called snow? What is it?"  
"It's like frozen rain. When it's cold enough, snow falls and covers the ground. Do you want to go outside to see it?" Alice grinned at the flash of eagerness in his eyes.  
"I don't think we're allowed to."  
"Oh pish-posh. Let's go." Alice grabbed his wrist and dragged him out of the room.  
"Pish posh?" Zarkash snickered, remembering when her father had said that. He tried to keep up as Alice brought him down a flight of stairs, opening the doors to go onto a balcony of the building. He looked around in surprise at all the snow around him, flinching as some landed on his shoulders.  
"Shit that's cold water!" Zarkash yelled in surprise, moving back into the building, looking very annoyed.  
"What? It's just snow." Alice said, holding out her hands, a few snowflakes falling onto her palms.  
"It's cold. I'm not wearing a shirt." Zarkash muttered, looking at the snow uneasily.  
"You didn't realize it would melt on you, did you?" Alice giggled, looking at Zarkash's angry expression.  
"So?" He muttered.  
"Water's not that bad, Zarkash. Why are you so afraid of it?" Alice walked over to him, holding the droplets of water in one of her palms.  
"I've had a bad experience, okay? I don't want to haveit happen again."  
"What happened?" Alice looked up at him in concern.  
Zarkash stared down at her for a minute, trying to ignore her wide purple eyes as they stared up at him. "Morg happened. He's a storm dragon, and he can make any weather he wants at any time. He made a typhoon and tried to drown me when I was younger."  
"Oh." Alice whispered. "Well, you're not going to drown in snow, you know." Alice said, walking back out into the snow. She tilted her head up and opened her mouth wide, Zarkash watching her in shock as snowflakes started falling into her mouth. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her back inside, looking down at her to see if she was alright.  
"Don't do that." He growled, but let her go.  
"Well I'm not going back to the ward unless you try it too." Alice said, crossing her arms stubbornly and stood her ground.  
Zarkash let out a low growl of frustration, stepping out into the snow, hesitating before exposing himself completely to the snow. He looked up, watching the snow fall slowly around him, some of the flakes hitting his face and melting against his warm skin. He opened his mouth slightly, letting a single snowflake fall into his mouth, before glaring over to Alice.  
"There I did it. You need to get back, now." He grumbled.  
"No, not yet." Alice walked over, grabbing his wrists and putting them out palm-up to let the snow fall on his hands. "See? No harm done. Water's fine, as long as there's not too much of it."  
Zarkash looked down at the size of Alice's hands compared to his, smiling as he noticed how much smaller hers were. He looked out over the balcony, noticing all the snow was obstructing his view of the forest. He turned cautious and guided Alice back into the building, closing the doors behind him.  
"You need to get back, okay? We'll both get into trouble if you don't."  
"Alright- you have to take a shower too, though." Alice snickered when Zarkash stopped in his tracks, his eyes wide. "Oh come on- you need it- look at your hair." Alice pointed at a stick poking out of his hair from one of the earlier battles. "You can't walk around with matted hair- that's gross."  
"It's really that bad?" Zarkash looked down at his hair, but seeing nothing wrong other than the twig. He pulled it out, throwing it aside.  
"Yes. It's stinky, too. Please take a shower?" Alice said, looking up at him with wide eyes.  
"Fine." He sighed, his shoulder slumping.  
"Thanks." Alice smiled brightly, walking back into the ward.  
Zarkash walked over to the bathroom at the other side of the room, looking around at all the porcelain fixtures curiously. Which one was the shower? He walked over to a large metal box in the corner, opening the door and looking up at a nozzle up above him. Figuring this was what Alice meant, he shed his pants and stepped in, looking down at the knobs in front of him in confusion. Why were there two?  
He turned the left one, letting out a loud yell as cold water started streaming down on his head. He turned it back again and stood in the shower, breathing heavily in shock as he dripped water.  
"Alice?" He called out, looking down at the knobs in anger. "How do you make this thing do hot water?"  
"it's not that hard, you just- OHMYGOD" Alice opened the door and blushed as she saw Zarkash standing naked in the shower, the door of the shower wide open.  
"What? What's wrong? What do I do?" Zarkash wiped the water from his eyes, seeing Alice turned around, her face flushed crimson.  
"J-just turn the other one. The right one." She stammered. "And shut the shower door, Zarkash!" She said in a high pitched voice.  
Zarkash looked over at the shower door, noticing the glass on it was slightly waved to hide his form from her. "Oh, sorry." He said, closing the door and turning the hot water on. He sighed in relief as hot water poured onto him, wondering what to do at this point. He looked around at the shelves, noticing a strange small bar in a small depression. He picked it up, swearing as it almost slipped out of his hand. This time it did slip out, and he swore, leaning over to pick it up but knocking one of his black horns against the cold water knob. He held his head as it throbbed in pain, hissing as he felt along his horn for any damage. He glared down at the bar, kicking it into a corner of the shower as he turned the water off, calling it good. He shook himself out, whipping his hair around his face until he felt at least semi-dry. He opened the door slightly, making sure Alice wasn't there before stepping out, looking down at the cloth set on the counter. He picked it up, wondering what it was for. He shrugged and set it down again, putting his pants back on, struggling to put his wet legs into the fabric.  
"Alright, done." Zarkash called out to Alice. He heard a relieved sigh and Alice looked into the room, scoffing as she noticed he was still wet.  
"Didn't you use the towel?" She pointed to the cloth he had picked up.  
"Towel? What's a towel?" Zarkash looked to where she was pointing, and saw the cloth. "Oh, that thing. What's it for?"  
Alice rolled her eyes and walked in, grabbing the towel and drying his chest and back off. "Use it to dry your legs off too. Now your pants will be wet all day." She sighed.  
"I'll be fine." He said, still rubbing his horn. "Can you check to see if my horn's chipped? I knocked agianst one of the knobs."  
Alice smiled and nodded, motioning for him to lean over. He kneeled in front of her, trying to look someplace other than her chest right in front of his face as she looked through his hair for any sign of chips on his black horn.  
"Nope, don't see any." She patted his head, and looked at the grimy water falling down her palm. "Didn't you even wash your hair?"  
"With what? I got it wet." Zarkash grumbled. This was turning into a hassle.  
Alice sighed in exasperation. "Fine, I'll wash it in the sink. Come on." She walked over to the sink in the main room, usually used for washing utensils. She set up a chair in front of it, motioning for him to sit down. He obeyed and sat, leaning back as Alice pushed his chest down. He set his neck against the sink's bowl, flinching when he heard running water behind him. Alice pushed him back, using a portable nozzle to wet his hair again.  
"Be right back." She said, walking into the bathroom to get the shampoo.  
Zarkash stared at the ceiling, sighing in frustration at going through all this just to get clean.  
"Alright. Now, keep your head leaned back." Alice said, pushing Zarkash down again. She squirted a glob of shampoo onto her hand, rubbing her hands together to lather it before running it through Zarkash's hair, trying to avoid the worst of the tangles. She moved around his horns, noticing with amusement that his hair actually curved around them in its own part. She heard Zarkash sigh in relaxation, slumping in the chair a little as Alice continued to wash her hair.  
"Feel good?" Alice smiled at Zarkash's relaxed face.  
"Uh- yeah." He said, glancing up at her to see her reaction. She smiled and scrubbed his head, making him flinch and tense for a minute.  
"What are your horns made of?" Alice said curiously, running a palm along the broad curve of one of them.  
"Bone." He said, glancing up at her again. "Why?"  
"Does that mean your bones are black?" Alice said with a raised eyebrow.  
"Yeah, aren't yours?"  
"No. Mine are white." Alice chuckled. She ran her palm along one of the horns. "Can you feel that?"  
"Yeah. They can feel just like skin. Don't know how." He shrugged. "Don't do that too much, though."  
"Why?" Alice looked down at him.  
Zarkash blushed. "Just don't."  
Alice blushed as well and nodded, going back to washing his hair. "Alright, rinsing." She said, spraying the shampoo out of his hair with warm water. Alice sat Zarkash up when she was done, taking the towel and rubbing his head to dry his hair.  
"There." She said, and laughed as his hair poofed out slightly. He smoothed out his hair, smirking at Alice's laughter. He reached out and ruffled her hair so that it tangled in a poof, chuckling as she squealed in protest, smoothing it back down too.  
"Alright, enough joking around for now. Are you feeling okay still?" Zarkash pointed to the wounds on her shoulders, only covered by the hospital gown.  
"Yeah, they should be fine." Alice looked down at them. "I could heal yours now, if you wanted."  
"No way. Not until you're healed. We should re-bandage them." Zarkash said, looking around for the roll of cloth the nurses had used.  
"You're not taking off my shirt." Alice said, her voice low. Zarkash looked at her in shock, his eyes wide.  
"That's not what I meant- I don't want them to start bleeding again from moving around too much."  
"Yeah right, you just want to take my shirt off." She said accusingly. "You're from luxuria. I know better than that."  
"Side benefit." Zarkash muttered to himself, hoping Alice wouldn't hear. He felt something hit his head, and looked back to see her angry expression, armed with another pillow to pelt at him.  
"Perv!" She yelled, throwing it at him again, but flinching as her shoulder suddenly started hurting again. She felt the spot and sighed as blood covered her hand.  
"See? I told you." Zarkash growled, bringing over several rolls of bandages.  
"I'll sit behind you so I won't see anything, okay? You have to have new bandages."  
Alice looked at him skeptically for a minute before groaning in embarrassment, sitting in her bed and covering herself with the blanket as she took the gown off. She set it aside, holding the blanket tightly against her chest."That's all you get, perv."  
"Quit calling me that." Zarkash growled. "This is for your own good." He unraveled one of the rolls, wrapping it gently around her left shoulder before moving to wrap it around her neck and then her other shoulder. He wrapped the cloth around her upper chest, then secured it with tape at the end.  
"There, see? No problem." He said, standing and turning around so that Alice could put the gown on again.  
"Fine." Alice said, looking down in embarrassment.  
"Later we'll go to class. Right now, I think you need rest. This is the second time you've opened your wounds again." He crossed his arms in disapproval.  
"Yes, mother." Alice said sarcastically.  
Zarkash grumbled, walking over to a chair to watch Alice rest.


	11. Chapter 11

Alice yawned, looking down at her shoulders, noticing the wounds were now covered with nasty looking scabs. Well, it was a start- at lease she knew it was healing well. She looked up as she heard something fall to the ground, looking around the room, but seeing nothing.  
Wait- where was Zarkash?  
She stood and started looking around, shivering in her hospital gown. She heard grumbled profanities and found Zarkash searching through a cabinet, squatted up on the counter underneath it as he searched.  
"What are you doing?" Alice asked, making Zarkash tense and slowly turn his head to her with wide eyes.  
"Nothing." He murmured, shoving things back into the cabinet.  
"Liar. What were you doing?"  
"Looking." He snorted, jumping off the counter and landing on the floor. "Your wounds are scabbed over."  
"Yeah, I know. Don't change the subject. What were you looking for?" Alice put her hands on her hips, starting to get annoyed. "This is a doctor's office. There are some things here that could really hurt you."  
"Food." Zarkash growled, his fangs bared. "I'm fucking starving, and I don't know where to get food. I had some earlier, but I don't know where to find it anymore."  
"Oh." Alice blushed, looking at the cabinets. "Well they won't be in there. You have to keep blood cold."  
Zarkash nodded, walking over to the white box in the corner and looking in. Seeing nothing he sighed and leaned his head against the closed door. "It's gone." He growled, banging his head once in frustration.  
"Well, you could eat mine." Alice whispered, looking down shyly.  
Zarkash looked up at her, shaking his head. "You're still healing. No way."  
"Well otherwise you'll starve. What then?"  
"I'll manage." Zarkash growled, looking out the window. Maybe he could catch a deer. But it was still snowing pretty heavily, and he didn't want to leave Alice alone. He let out a loud groan and leaned against the counter behind him, holding his throbbing head. How was he supposed to cope in this world without being able to hunt for prey like he usually did?  
"Are you okay? You're pale." Alice said in concern, walking over to him and putting a hand to her forehead. "Ah, you're burning! Come on." She grabbed his wrist and dragged him over to one of the beds, pushing him down on it.  
"I'm fine- I'm warmer than you are!" Zarkash tried to say as she kept him laid back against the pillow, looking down at him with fierce eyes.  
"Don't care. You're pale, and that's not a good sign, even for a demon. Is it because you're hungry, or are you sick?"  
"What's sick? Is it another word for hurt? No- I'm not hurt other than what happened earlier." He growled, trying to sit up against her hand.  
"No, sick as in germs and coughing, throwing up and fevers." Alice said, trying to fight him. She gasped as he grabbed her hand, sitting up and holding her wrists away from her with fierce eyes.  
"I'm not sick, now let me up before something bad happens." He growled, his voice low. Alice nodded silently, her purple eyes wide as she tucked her released hands on her lap.  
Zarkash saw her sudden shyness and ran a hand through his red hair uneasily. "Look, I'm just… I feel weird when I'm hungry, okay? Don't mess with me when I'm like this."  
"I just want to help." She whispered.  
"Then find me blood." He said, looking out the window and having the sudden urge to growl at the snow.  
"You can always take mine, you know. I really don't mind, and I don't like you being like this. I can feel how frustrated you are in my mind, and it makes me frustrated too."  
"Ah, I forgot about that." Zarkash sighed, slumping against the back of the bed frame. "You only have so much blood for me to take, Alice. Last time I took too much, and I don't want that to happen again. Besides, you need your blood for healing."  
"I'll make more. Just please don't be constantly angry, I can't stand it." She whispered, wondering why it was so important to her that he wasn't angry.  
Zarkash looked at her for a minute, his yellow and red eyes cautious. "You won't get hurt from it? I don't want to have you faint again."  
"I'll try not to. I'll tell you if I start to feel dizzy, okay?"  
Zarkash nodded, moving closer to her, feeling the hum of the blood rushing through her, and the loud beating of her racing heart. He looked at her eyes and saw resolve there before he pulled her to him, wondering what the strange warmth rushing through him was. Somehow this felt different- a heady rush making his thoughts vanish as he pushed the neck of her hospital gown aside, resting his cheek against her pulse, hearing her gasp softly. This wasn't the rush of survival he usually felt when he fed on something, it was far deeper than that. He puzzled over it for a minute before sinking his teeth into Alice's neck, his eyes shooting open at the strange pull of magic surging through him- far more powerful than before. He held her tighter against his chest as she held his shoulders for support, accidentally gripping his horns as she tried to keep her balance as her head spun, making him cry out against her neck and take his mouth away. He looked at her with wide eyes as she gasped against him, falling against his shoulder.  
Zarkash held his hand against the dripping pinpricks on her neck, looking down at her in concern. "Alice?" He held her shoulders, sitting her up to make sure she was alright. She wasn't unconscious, he could still feel her through their mental link- she just felt… tired.  
"How did you do that?" She whispered, looking up at him in confusion.  
"Do what?" Zarkash asked, keeping her supported against her.  
"Some of the bond is gone- don't you feel it?" Alice whispered, her eyes wide. Zarkash blinked for a few minutes in confusion, trying to feel around mentally for any differences, but not finding any.  
"No, I still feel the same."  
"Try something. Anything- I think we just found out how to unseal you." She smiled against his shoulder.  
Zarkash nodded and set her against the back of the bed as he stood, turning into his cat form. Still the same. He said through their mental link, walking over to the side of the bed and looking up at her.  
"Try another animal." Alice sat up, wanting to see the result.  
Zarkash sighed and closed his eyes, his form growing larger into that of a large auburn lion. He looked down at himself in surprise and grinned happily, his tail flicking behind him. You were right. He sounded overjoyed, making Alice smile softly as he pounded around the room, shaking out his thick brown mane. Let's try some other thigs. Zarkash said, stopping and closing his eyes again. He formed into multiple creatures- first a wolf, then a horse, then an eagle. He laughed happily, flying through the room and stopping at the edge of the bed. One final test. He said, before closing his eyes and concentrating, then letting out a deep sigh when nothing happened. He turned back into his human form, sitting on the edge of the bed beside Alice. "I still can't turn to my natural form, though. But at least we made some progress, whatever happened. Do you know what happened?"  
"No, I have no idea. It felt different for some reason, though."  
Zarkash nodded, still confused, but shrugging. "We'll try again after you've recovered. For now, I think it's best that you just rest and get your blood back." He said sternly, pushing her back against the pillows.  
"Yeah, I feel pretty tired. I think you accidentally took some of my magic with my blood." She chuckled. Zarkash grinned, nodding in agreement.  
"Didn't mean to." He shrugged.  
"You're fine. Don't worry about it." Alice said softly, drifting asleep.  
Zarkash looked up as a knock came on the door, looking to Alice before standing and walking toward the door.  
"Is Alice okay?" A small voice said from behind the door, and Zarkash rolled his eyes in frustration before opening the door to reveal Suro, who was holding a basket filled with medical supplies.  
"I think we have enough stuff to use in the ward." Zarkash said, looking down at the bandages and strange lotions in confusion.  
"You can never be too careful. Will you just give these to her? Tell her to use the lotions every night on her wounds, and they'll heal faster." Suro smiled.  
"Sure." Zarkash said, taking the basket and closing the door again. He looked down at one of the bottles and set the basket down, sniffing its contents and reeling back in disgust. Alice was supposed to put this on her? She would smell like a rotting stump if she did…  
He sighed and brought the basket over to Alice, deciding not to wake her. Instead he walked over to one of the windows, stepping out onto the balcony to feel the cold snow against his shoulders. Something was changing- he didn't know what it was, but somehow he knew it was important. Not only was the change clouding his mind with racing thoughts, but a strange ominous feeling. He looked out to the forest again, but still saw nothing, nor did he hear anything that might be of any danger. He walked back into the health ward, hearing the strange sounds of wretching from the corner of the room. He looked around for Alice and saw the bathroom door open, the noises from it pausing for a moment before starting again. He ran into the room to see Alice crouched over the toilet, shaking as she gasped for air.  
"What's wrong- are you… um.. seke?"  
"Sick. Yes." Alice whispered, gasping and throwing up again into the toilet, making Zarkash flinch at the stench and sight. He kneeled beside her, holding her for comfort as she gasped for breath, her eyes wide.  
"I felt fine, until all of a sudden I felt really sick. I don't know why." She whispered, closing her eyes in relief as Zarkash moved her blond hair from her face, holding it back against her head so it wouldn't get in her way.  
"Just all of a sudden? Was it from me taking your blood?" He said, a twinge of guilt running through him.  
"No, I don't think so. I really don't know why." She gasped and threw up again, whimpering slightly at the burning in her throat.  
Zarkash looked down at her in concern, rubbing her back for comfort as she sat onto the ground, exhausted. "Should I call Jeremy? Maybe you should see a real doctor."  
"No, I'm fine. Probably just a bug or something." Alice smiled reassuringly, but Zarkash's frown deepened. He turned into a wolf, sniffing at her before snorting in dissatisfaction, turning back into his human form.  
"You smell sick. Are you sure you're okay? Should I get Ricky instead?" He asked, hoping she wouldn't agree. He really didn't want to tell that boy that Alice might be sick because he took her blood.  
"N-no, there's no need for him to worry. Could you just… leave me be for a bit?" She said, her eyes looking down nervously.  
"Sure." Zarkash said, standing. He walked out of the bathroom and closed the door behind him, but leaned on the wall beside it. He flinched as he heard another wretching, looking at the door in concern. Something was wrong.


	12. Chapter 12

Ricky walked into the health ward, looking around to see Alice leaning against Zarkash's chest, the demon wrapping his arm around her waist for support. Zarkash looked up at Ricky, his eyes filled with concern as Alice lurched against him again, running for the bathroom.  
"What the hell happened? What did you do?" Ricky growled to Zarkash, making sure to be quiet enough that Alice wouldn't hear him.  
"She said she's sick- it's not my fault."  
"She was fine this morning! She couldn't have suddenly gotten so sick. You must have done something." Ricky's wings opened slightly as his anger mounted.  
Zarkash paused before glancing to the bathroom, concerned at Alice's deep gasps as she tried not to throw up again. "I took some blood, okay?" He murmured.  
Ricky gritted his teeth, his eyes flashing. "While she's sick? Why the hell would you do that? Did you put her under a spell or something? You must have."  
"No, in fact she offered it to me. Insisted on it, actually." Zarkash bared his fangs, matching Ricky's glare. "I didn't take that much, so I don't know why she's like this."  
"Idiot." Ricky hissed, and pushed Zarkash aside to make his way into the bathroom. He kneeled next to Alice, rubbing her back for comfort. "You okay, sis?" He said, concerned.  
"Yeah- just got a bug. I should be fine in a bit, I don't have anything left in me." She tried to chuckle, but winced in pain. "And I have a killer headache."  
Ricky sighed, putting a hand to her forehead and feeling too much heat. "You've got a fever, too. I think you should go back to bed. Are you feeling up to moving?"  
"Yeah. My stomach isn't twisting into knots anymore, at least." Alice sighed, leaning against Ricky's shoulder. "Don't blame Zarkash, he had nothing to do with it. I don't know why I'm so sick, but it wasn't him."  
Ricky nodded and put his arms around her protectively. "Alright, let's get you to the bed so you can rest. Did Suro leave that basket for you?"  
"I don't know." Alice looked into the other room, seeing the basket of medical supplies. "I guess I was asleep."  
"That's a good thing- you need to keep sleeping, or else you'll get worse." Ricky picked Alice up, resisting a smile when she let out a squeak of surprise and held onto his neck. He carried her over to the bed and set her down in it, covering her with the blanket.  
"Get some sleep, alright? You'll probably feel better when you wake up." He smiled, and put cold water into a cloth, setting it on her forehead to try and help her fever. Alice smiled in comfort, snuggling into the blanket as Zarkash stood by the bathroom still, not wanting to disturb them.  
Ricky watched Alice for a bit until he was sure she was asleep, then when he stood and looked to Zarkash, motioning for him to follow him toward the door.  
Zarkash sighed and followed Ricky into the hall, stopping when the angel stopped half way down the corridor, far enough from the door that Alice wouldn't hear them.  
"YOU ARE A FUCKING IDIOT." Ricky yelled, looking behind him with flaring blue eyes. "Just because she offers you food, doesn't mean you should take it. Alice has never had a good immune system, so you probably made her sick by taking all her fluids."  
Zarkash stood frozen at the accusation, and looked to the ground. "I didn't take that much. I didn't want to hurt her."  
"Well too late." Ricky growled. "For being old, you sure are stupid. Aren't you supposed to get wiser with years?"  
"I spent most of my years fighting for my life, okay, pup?" Zarkash growled, baring his teeth.  
"Just stay away from Alice. You're nothing but trouble to her. No matter what you do, you'll still hurt her in some way. You're a demon- it's not right for you to be too close to her." Ricky held up a hand as Zarkash started to protest. "I've seen the way you look at her. I'm a man, too. I know what you feel toward her, Zarkash, and it's not good. This school may be accepting of you, but the rest of the world won't be."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Demons are demons. They're evil creatures who will do anything to kill you. They eat anything, kill for fun and generally love to cause pain to others. That's how the world will view you. It won't matter to them if you're the good guy, or the bad guy. You're still a demon, just the same."  
"Why the hell do you humans think this way? Haven't you ever seen a Fomorian demon before?  
"No, we haven't. I didn't even know they existed until Alice summoned you."  
Zarkash blinked in shock for a minute.  
"Do you get it now? If you're with Alice, you'll only cause her pain. Once she graduates, she'll have to hide you from everyone in the world, or risk having you taken away and maybe even killed. Do you want to hurt her? Do you want to get her killed?"  
"Of course not." Zarkash growled.  
"Then treat her as a summoned master. Nothing else." Ricky stared at Zarkash with a serious expression. "For Alice's sake, if not your own."  
Zarkash looked to the ground with sad eyes, and reluctantly nodded. Though he didn't want to admit it, Ricky was right. He was getting too close to Alice- feeling emotions he shouldn't be feeling toward a summoned master.  
"If you're hungry, there's plenty of deer in the forest. Just go hunt one down." Ricky said, pointing to the forest in the distance through the snow.  
Zarkash looked at the forest into the distance, his eyes fading slightly so that they were now orange and yellow. He walked over to the balcony doors, opening them and turning into an eagle as he jumped off the rail of the balcony, flying into the distance, disappearing into the blizzard. Ricky watched after him in surprise, not realizing he could turn into more animals than just a cat. The angel shook his head in frustration and checked Alice one last time before continuing to his afternoon class. He would protect Alice no matter what. Even if it meant breaking her heart.

"_Be a good girl for mommy, sweetie." A sultry woman's voice said happily as Alice walked through a strange series of hallways. Everything seemed hazed in a cloud of smoke as she looked around her, nothing but walls in any direction. She ran through the maze, hearing the woman's voice grow stronger.  
"He's a good man, sweetie. Though he's a little rough around the edges, he means well."  
She looked around for the voice, desperate to get to it. She ran around another corner, stopping in shock when she saw the scene that had been burned into her mind so long ago. Her father was fighting against a massive black dragon, a much younger Alice cowering behind him on the grass, crying at the horror of such violence. A large brown shaggy werewolf took her into his arms, the girl calming as she looked up into the familiar blue eyes. Alice's father cried out in pain as the dragon slashed at his chest, chuckling triumphantly and advancing as the man kneeled on the ground, trying in vain to hold the skin of his chest together even as he bled onto the grass below him. A shadowy figure formed above the man, black eyes showing through the mist of the night, making the dragon take a sudden step back in absolute terror. As the eyes vanished again into the darkness, Alice's father coughed, blood from his mouth falling onto the ground.  
"Take her away, Jeremy. Somewhere safe." The blond haired man looked to his daughter, then at his friend. "Now- I don't want her to see this."  
The young Alice cried out in protest as the werewolf nodded and ran into the forest, trying to comfort the little girl in his arms as she watched her father fall to the ground, releasing his chest so that his skin fell lose against his front. She saw a strange figure appear and support him before she lost her view among the trees.  
"He will pay for this." She heard a woman's voice hiss through her mind._

Alice woke with a start, looking around her in confusion and remembering she was in the health ward after being sick. She looked down at herself and noticed with confusion that her hands were glowing silver. Looking herself over more carefully, her whole body was in fact, glowing a soft and steady silver. She shivered in the cold and looked out the window as she heard a loud growl from outside, seeing an auburn lion take down a deer and engorging itself on its neck. Alice held her neck with a gasp of horror, wondering if that was how Zarkash usually fed. She looked up as a knock sounded on the health ward doors, and looked over to see Ricky peek his head into the room.  
"Alice, are you alright?" Ricky looked at her as she glowed a soft silver- he hadn't seen her do that in years.  
"Yeah, I just had a bad dream." Alice smiled uneasily. Ricky frowned suddenly and walked quickly over to her, taking her away from the window.  
"Are you feeling alright? You were pretty sick earlier." He said, watching with relief as the glow faded.  
"Yeah, I probably just had some weird little bug. No need to worry about me." Alice smiled happily. Ricky sighed and glanced out the window. "He must be still hungry. It's pretty gross how he eats."  
"He probably thinks it's gross how we eat too, Ricky. Why do you not like him? He didn't do anything wrong."  
"Because he'll only be trouble for you, Alice. I don't want you to get hurt because of him."  
Alice frowned. "I won't get hurt, Ricky. He's trying his best to protect me."  
Ricky let out a growl, pointing to the gashes on her shoulders. "That's protecting you? I'd hate to know what he'd be like when he's not trying to protect you."  
"Ricky, you can be such a jerk to people sometimes." Alice frowned, crossing her arms in disapproval.  
"I'm only trying to look out for you, Alice. That's what older brothers do."  
"Well maybe I want to watch myself sometimes." Alice hissed, her body starting to glow silver again.  
Ricky looked at her in surprise as her eyes darkened to a deep purple, and took a step back uneasily. "Something's going on with you, Alice. You've been acting strange lately, and I'm going to find out why. Just don't get so close to that demon." Ricky growled, his wings shaking in annoyance as he turned around and walked out of the health ward.  
Alice watched after him in confusion- what was going on with her? What did he mean? She felt fine- in fact, better than she'd felt since she had started high school.


	13. Chapter 13

Zarkash looked up at the starry sky above him, a low growl sounding from the back of his throat. Why did he feel such compulsion to go back to Alice? She didn't need him around all the time- she probably thought he was annoying. The demon let out another growl as he remembered what Ricky had said earlier that night. Who was that stupid boy to say how he felt toward Alice? That stupid angel had no idea what he was thinking, so why would he want Zarkash to stay away from Alice so much?  
He felt some sort of abnormality between the mental link with Alice, and looked in her direction. What was she doing right now, and why did that odd feeling come through? He let out a long sigh, shifting into an eagle and leaping off the ground to fly back toward the school, landing on the balcony and shifting to his human form as he walked toward the health ward. He opened the door slowly, noticing Suro was talking with Alice again, and they were both laughing about something. Zarkash repressed a protective growl, but walked in casually, only glancing towards Alice as she continued her conversation. He laid back on one of the health ward's beds, resting his head on his arms as he relaxed.  
"So Zarkash, are you full now?" Alice smiled to him. He blinked in confusion at her sudden question, not knowing how to answer to it. Instead, he just nodded silently and watched her talk with the boy.  
"So, I was wondering when you two are going to come back to class? I'm getting kind of tired of the headmaster's lectures. He's not as exciting as Zarkash is." Suro said, looking at the door to make sure the headmaster couldn't hear him.  
"That's because I only told him a little bit of where I'm from." Zarkash shrugged. "I've told you guys a lot less than I've told him, so I have a lot of catching up to do."  
"The nurse said I should be fine to walk around now, as long as I don't lift anything heavy. Maybe I should go to class tomorrow?" Alice smiled. Suro smiled back, nodding eagerly.  
"I think that's a good idea. Being stuck up here probably isn't very fun." Suro said, glancing to Zarkash. "Though you had company, so I guess that's okay."  
Zarkash snorted, closing his orange and yellow eyes with a frown. "She was sick half the time."  
"Sick?" Suro looked to Alice in concern. "Did you get the flu or something?"  
"I don't know. I just felt really sick the other day, and Ricky thinks there's something wrong with me."  
"There is." Zarkash said sternly. "I just don't know what it is."  
Suro scoffed skeptically. "I don't think there's anything wrong with you. Maybe the medication they gave you made you sick or something. There's always can explanation for these things."  
"Probably, but for today I think I'll rest more. So I'm ready for tomorrow." Alice smiled, and Suro nodded, standing.  
"Remember to try those lotions I gave you. Trust me, they'll help." He waved as he walked out the door of the ward, leaving Zarkash alone with Alice.  
Alice let out a loud sigh, falling back against the pillows of the bed, trying to shut out the images from her nightmare from her mind. Why had she suddenly thought of that night? She had tried to block the horrific memory from her mind, only to have it come back at the worst possible time.  
"What's wrong now?" Zarkash grumbled from the other bed, feeling her depression through their mind link.  
"I had a nightmare last night, and it kind of freaked me out- no bid deal." Alice whispered, but Zarkash sat up and looked at her in concern.  
"Nightmare? What's that?" He asked in concern.  
"You don't know what a nightmare is? Don't you ever have bad dreams?"  
"What's a dream? Does it hurt?" Zarkash looked at Alice curiously, whose eyes widened in surprise.  
"Don't you dream? You know, have images in your mind while you sleep? I thought everyone did. They're what you want to happen, or what your mind imagines. Haven't you had that before?"  
Zarkash thought for a moment, his long ears drooping slightly as he thought. "Once, though it wasn't pleasant. Since then I haven't wanted to remember them, I guess." He shrugged.  
Alice nodded, staying silent for a bit as she thought. "You know, maybe we should go to class today. Suro was right- you should probably be teaching everyone."  
Zarkash looked up at her warily. "Are you feeling up to walking to class and back? I don't know if you're healed enough for that much walking."  
"Oh I'm fine." Alice smiled, lifting her arms around but having little pain. "See? I'm healing faster than I thought I would. Maybe I should just put on some of Suro's lotion to make sure though." Alice reached over for the bottle, squirting some on her hands and rubbing it on her shoulders. She glanced over at Zarkash, who was looking out the window, his orange and yellow eyes looking concerned.  
"Hey- why are your eyes so bright all of a sudden?" Alice said curiously, leaning over toward him.  
"Bright? What do you mean?" Zarkash blinked in confusion.  
"Your red eye- it's orange. Is that normal?"  
Zarkash blanched, his eyes wide. "No, it's not. I knew something was happening, and it seems to be affecting both of us."  
"I still don't see what's wrong with me, but if you say so." Alice shrugged. She stood and looked around the room with a blush. "I don't see my uniform- could you go get me one from the dorm room?"  
"Sure." Zarkash chuckled at her, shaking his head in disbelief as he walked toward the health ward doors, glancing back at her uneasily before walking out. She seemed to be better now, but he wondered why she had been so sick, and acting so strangely. Far more confident than usual, and she had actually teased him. Did she still have the flu, or was it something else entirely?  
Zarkash was so deep in thought he didn't notice the girl walking toward him until he had bumped into her, knocking her hat off her head.  
"Oh- hi Zarkash." He looked down at the girl, who picked up her pointed hat, her green eyes amused. "Glad to see you lookin' better."  
"Thanks. How has class been going without me there?" Zarkash looked down at the brown-haired green eyed witch. What was her name again… Mio?  
"Oh, fine. The headmaster isn't exactly the most exciting professor in the school, but he sure knows his stuff." The witch shrugged.  
"Yeah, he does. Now- I should get going, Alice is waiting for her uniform to get to class today." Zarkash nodded politely to Mio, who smiled back.  
"No problem, Zarkie. I'll see you in class, then." Mio grinned, laughing at Zarkash's surprised expression at the nickname. What the fuck kind of name was 'Zarkie'?!  
Zarkash let out a low growl as he made his way through the halls, ignoring the stares of the other students around him as he entered the girl's dorms. He opened Alice's door, looking around the room for a uniform. He never understood how she could feel comfortable in such weird clothes, but at least he didn't have to wear it. He got an outfit out of her drawer, blinking in confusion at the extra pieces of fabric beside it. What the hell were those for? He shrugged and grabbed a green shirt and skirt, leaving the other things in the drawer- they were probably for cleaning or something. They were far too small to be useful for anything else. He walked back up to the ward, seeing Alice brushing her blond hair in one of the mirrors.  
"There you go, a uniform for you." Zarkash set the clothes down on the bed in a heap, watching with interest as she tried to brush her hair while avoiding her shoulders as best she could. Why did humans pay so much attention to their looks?  
"Thanks." Alice said happily, putting down the brush and picking up the uniform. She looked at the skirt and shirt, looking down at the bed in confusion. "Didn't you get underwear?"  
"What? You wear stuff under that?" Zarkash blinked for a minute. "No, I didn't. What are they?"  
Alice blushed, looking at the ground uneasily. "Panties and a bra. That's all I needed. I have socks already."  
Zarkash blinked in confusion. "What are those? Are they a type of shirt or something?"  
Alice's blush deepened and she restrained an embarrassed groan. "No, they're things I wear under my clothes to keep my privates covered, okay?"  
"But they're covered with clothes already- that makes no sense." Zarkash said skeptically.  
"I don't know- I just wear them." Alice looked up at him with wide purple eyes. "Please? I can't go out without them, especially in a skirt."  
Zarkash let out a low growl. "Alright, tell me exactly what you need, then. I don't know what's what."  
"A bra looks like two triangles stitched together, and panties are the other kind- they go around my legs." Alice blushed as she explained, not believing she had to explain what underwear was.  
Wait- did that mean he never wears any? The thought made her blush even more.  
She watched as Zarkash went out the door again, hearing him grumble as he walked down the hall. She smiled and looked out the window at the falling snow. Maybe after class they could go out and enjoy the weather if Zarkash was feeling up to it. She still couldn't believe he had never seen snow before.  
Come to think of it, Zarkash hadn't been there when her father had been killed. She knew he had another demon, but it wasn't Zarkash. She watched the snow fall as she tried to remember the name of the kitsune demon that her father had fought with- who was the last to see him before he had died.


	14. Chapter 14

"Hey, are you coming or not?" Zarkash growled back at Alice on their way down the hall to the classroom. She hurried along, trying to ignore her aching shoulders.  
"What are you going to talk about today?" Alice said, when she had finally caught up to Zarkash and was walking beside him.  
"You, probably. Something's wrong and I have to think. It helps me think to talk out loud." He glanced over to her, and back up at the door at the end of the hall. "So you'll probably have to talk a little too."  
"Not in front of everyone." Alice blanched at the thought. She had never been good at talking in front of the class- she started shaking, then turning red, then feeling numb…  
"No, but some of the things I need to know I don't, so I'll have to ask you." His orange and yellow eyes darted around the hallways, looking for any signs of trouble. It had been far too long since the last attack, and he was on edge. Usually by this time another demon had found them and attacked.  
"Hello Zarkash, I hope you and Alice are feeling better?" Jeremy greeted them as they walked into the door of the classroom. The headmaster was sitting down at the desk, as if he had been expecting Zarkash to show up today.  
"Yeah, we are. Though Alice still has a few problems." Zarkash nodded in greeting to him and the class, his eyes lingering on Ricky before continuing. "Today we'll talk about something relating to demons- how they get to earth from hell."  
Jeremy blinked in surprise and leaned forward in interest. He had never heard these facts before.  
"Demons can't go through level to level, right? They get killed by either other demons or devils. In order to get to earth from say, superbia- the lowest level, they'd have to cross all 6 other levels in order to get to the surface. But- there's a backdoor." Zarkash looked around and spotted the blackboard. He looked to Jeremy in question before moving to the board, picking up the chalk. He drew a box with seven layers in it, a dot in the lowest level and an arrow to the top of the box from the dot.  
"Some demons will risk fighting through all these levels. This is one of the stupidest things you can possibly do, and they usually die horribly. Others try to skip the levels." He made an arrow from the dot to the outside of the box, and close to the side, leading up to the top. "They do that either by making a deal with a devil, being powerful enough to kill a devil or making a deal with the queen."  
Zarkash pointed to the dot. "I didn't do any of these. Because I was summoned, I was pretty much just transported to the top from Alice's magic. Normally demons can't do that though, considering there's only one summoner. But I don't know if she can summon more than one thing. Can you?" Zarkash looked up at Alice in question.  
"No, I can't. That was the one thing my dad taught me."  
"Ah, I see." Zarkash nodded, and looked over to the board. "So, my problem is, I'm trying to find a way to stop these demons from coming to the top and trying to kill Alice and I. Any suggestions?"  
Ricky raised his hand. "Talk to the devils or this queen you talked about."  
Zarkash blinked in surprise before smiling wryly. "I'm a pretty weak demon- the devils would just ignore me, but the queen might be an idea. She's kind of… um… scary though." Zarkash looked down uneasily.  
"What's the queen? Is she a dragon or something?" Alice asked in curiosity.  
"No, the queen is something entirely different from any other demon. She's a demi-god, pretty much. One of the last of a very powerful race."  
"A demi-god? Does that mean she's immortal?" Mio asked in amazement.  
"No idea- all I know is that she's been there since I was born." Zarkash shrugged.  
"So then, perhaps you can somehow seal the top level from letting others through?" Jeremy asked.  
"I can't do that- all I can do is shoot fire and bite. If you know someone who can seal demonic levels of hell be my guest." Zarkash chuckled.  
Jeremy thought for a minute, and sighed. "The only one I knew who could have done that is long past."  
Zarkash looked over at the headmaster in curiosity. "Who?"  
"Alice's father had the ability to seal hell- he did that to try and keep out demons after you were dismissed, but it failed somehow, and one broke through."  
"Who? What was it?" Zarkash said in shock, leaning closer to the headmaster.  
"I don't know its name, but it killed Evan. It was a large black dragon with a slightly tattered wing."  
Zarkash froze, his eyes wide. "This dragon killed Alice's father?"  
"And almost killed her- I managed to get her away." Jeremy nodded.  
Zarkash glanced at Alice, then leaned back against the desk, his fangs bared and a low hiss coming from his throat. Fur rippled along his arms, his body glowing green as he tried to restrain himself. He finally calmed and looked up at the class, who were staring at him with a mixture of horror and concern.  
"I have to go out for a bit." Zarkash said, his voice laced with a dark growl as he ran out of the room. He ran out to one of the balconies of the hallway, looking down at the ground below, his bright eyes filled with rage. Even after he had left, his enemies had still killed Evan. Even after hell had been sealed, Morg had killed him- had even tried to kill Alice! Zarkash growled fiercely, sinking his claws into the stone wall of the building, raking them down, causing deep rivets in the hard rock. He needed to tear at something- to rend it to shreds in his anger, but anything he tried to hurt in this building would only cause harm for Alice. Was that all he was good for- hurting people who tried to care for him?  
It had all been his fault… Evan's death, Alice's horrible childhood- Irtasha's death and Morg's constant need for revenge- it had all been caused by him. He looked out at the sky, letting out a long cry of anger and agony. He froze when he felt arms wrap around him, looking behind to see Alice's blond hair against his back as she looked to the ground. She squeezed him reassuringly, looking up as he turned around in her arms.  
"It's not your fault." Alice whispered. Zarkash sighed, remembering the mental link between them. She had heard everything he had been thinking.  
"Your father died because of me, Alice. Because he summoned me by chance, and brought all my enemies down on him. You almost got killed too." Zarkash said, his voice still hinted with a growl.  
"No, he didn't die because of you. He messed with hell after you left too, Zarkash. He summoned that fox demon and after that everything went strange."  
"Fox demon? A kitsune?" Zarkash said in surprise.  
"Yeah, I don't know what his name was though. All I know was that he had brown hair with yellow eyes, and a long fox tail. Sometimes he had ears too, but that depended on his mood, I think."  
"But somehow Morg got up here, and killed Evan. How the hell could have done that?"  
"Maybe he made a deal with a devil." Alice said, keeping her arms wrapped around Zarkash's chest. He nodded thoughtfully, looking down at her small hands against his chest. He couldn't get it out of his mind that she had almost been killed by Morg as well- what if she hadn't escaped?  
He let out a growl and pulled her against him protectively, hearing a small squeak of surprise from Alice as he wrapped his arms around her. Maybe some demon was making her act strangely. If that was the case- he had to find it before this got out of hand.  
"I need to go back, and talk with someone." Zarkash said, looking down at her wide eyes. "I think I may have found out what's wrong, but I have to make sure before I start acting on it."  
Alice nodded, feeling strangely comfortable in his grip. She looked up at him, smiling. "Your eyes are back to normal." She said  
Zarkash blinked in surprise and smiled as well. "That's good. Let's go back." He said, unwrapping her from his grip and walking back down the hall next to Alice.  
Jeremy looked up to Zarkash in concern, and smiled when he saw the demon looking better. "Did you have anything else to add, Zarkash? Class is almost over."  
"Yeah." Zarkash moved in front of the desk, waiting until Alice sat back down to continue. "How many of you have heard of the story of Risa and Jason?"  
The classroom stayed silent for a bit, everyone looking around to see who had heard of it.  
"I thought so." Zarkash sighed. "I'm not very good at telling stories, but… Here it goes. Risa was a demon from the same level as me- Luxuria. Jason was a human during the 1700's that met her while she was on earth for a quest for her clan's leader. They fell in love, and wanted to live together. Unfortunately, that's the problem with humans and demons. Demons live to be at least 10,000 years old, and humans only live to be 100, or so I've heard. That's why demons are not allowed to be with humans, and vise versa. It's seen as pointless." Zarkash said softly, purposefully avoiding eye contact with Ricky and Alice. "Any comments?"  
Mio raised her hand, her green eyes soft. "If they love each other, why aren't they allowed to be together? What happened to Jason and Risa?"  
"Jason was killed by other demons, and Risa died from despair." Zarkash said, looking around the room at everyone's surprised faces. "No, she didn't actually die from despair. That's a demon way of saying she committed suicide."  
"How did she die?" One of the students raised their hand cautiously.  
"She fell into the fires of hell."  
Jeremy cleared his throat to break the silence that had come over the classroom, standing from his seat. "We will learn more of this tomorrow, children. For today, class is dismissed on that note- no homework for tonight, either."  
"Wait- Mio, could you stay after for a minute?" Zarkash looked up at the witch, who nodded in surprise. "Alice, Ricky- you too. I want to try something." Zarkash said thoughtfully, and waited until the rest of the class left.  
"Mio- can you scry?" Zarkash asked the witch, his tone uneasy.  
"Oh, of course. Wouldn't be much of a witch if I couldn't." Mio giggled and pulled a crystal from her pocket. "What did you need to see?"  
"I need you to see if you can detect any demons around here other than me. Is that possible?"  
"Oh yeah, easy as pie." Mio smiled, holding up a crystal. "I just need a bit of quiet and some time." Mio said, concentrating on the stone, closing her eyes and saying an incantation under her breath. The crystal flashed and inside the gem's smoothed surface was the image of who yellow eyes, followed by rows of fangs. A deep growl sounded from the stone and the image zoomed out to reveal a large black dragon, rain pouring down from the sky around it as it let out a deep dark laughter.  
"E s eisoes 'ma!" Zarkash gasped, backing up suddenly, running into the desk behind him. "Fel fynnodd 'ma fel 'n chwim?"  
"English, please." Alice muttered, concerned at Zarkash's suddenly pale complexion.  
"Morg is here- he somehow arrived to earth so quickly- How the hell did he do it?" Zarkash said, his voice shaking as he glanced to Jeremy, who was also tensed.  
"The same way he did before. He'll be after you, Zarkash. You should be on your guard at all time. Who knows where he'll attack?" the headmaster shook his head. "I thought security would be good enough to keep him at bay- he must have found a way in somehow."  
Zarkash nodded, looking at the black dragon in the crystal with wide eyes, a mixture of fear and anger running through him. How was he supposed to protect Alice against Morg?


	15. Chapter 15

Alice watched Zarkash as he paced the floor anxiously, glancing out the window of their dorm room occasionally.  
"You don't know where he is, so why worry so much?" Alice sighed.  
"That's exactly why I'm worried." Zarkash growled, looking over to Alice as she sighed again and sat on the bed.  
"It's past midnight Zarkash, I'm tired- I want to sleep." She murmered.  
Zarkash nodded, sitting on the bed beside her. "I just want to keep you safe. I need to know where he is to protect you."  
Alice chuckled, nudging him playfully with her elbow. "Don't worry so much about me, Zarkash. I'm not made of glass, you know."  
"You're just a girl, Alice. I don't want to see you hurt." Zarkash glanced at her uneasily.  
"Oh, so it's not that we're connected and if I get hurt you do too?" Alice giggled.  
"No, of course not." Zarkash whispered, but refused to look at her.  
"Don't be so glum- I was only joking." Alice sighed, pushing him again to try and get him to react to her. Zarkash looked up at her in surprise but smiled, reaching up and ruffling her hair with a grin.  
"Though I'll ask you to be careful this time- no running into battle with Morg- just stay as far away as you can."  
"Got it." Alice smiled happily, smoothing down her hair.  
"Now- Jeremy said I should be unsealed as soon as possible." Zarkash said, shifting in his seat uneasily.  
"Oh, you want more blood? I don't know if we did anything special last time or anything."  
"It's worth a shot." Zarkash shrugged casually. "As long as you're feeling better, at least. I don't want to make you faint again."  
Alice grinned. "You worry too much, Zarkash. If you're hungry, you should just say so." Alice let out a soft yawn, blinking her watery eyes sleepily. "Though you should probably hurry before I fall asleep."  
Zarkash smiled softly and nodded, making her squeak in surprise when he picked her up and moved her closer to him. He moved the collar of her uniform aside, looking down at the scabbed over marks on her shoulders. He felt a twinge of guilt flow through him, and looked up at her uneasily. "Are you sure? You're still not fully healed."  
"I'm fine." Alice looked at him nervously, his face only a few inches from hers. He nodded, setting his forehead against her shoulder gently as he tried to sort through his racing thoughts. What was wrong with him, that his heart was suddenly beating so fast? He felt warm- as if his blood was heated when he thought of what he was about to do. He wasn't hungry, but he still wanted to take her blood- it just didn't make any sense.  
He let out his breath in exasperation against her bare skin, looking up in surprise when Alice shivered in his grip. She was biting her lip nervously, as if waiting for him to start. Did she want him to take her blood?  
He sank his fangs into her pulse gently, his eyes shooting open at the sudden rush of power flowing into him. It was even more powerful than before- a strange blue aura surrounding Alice's skin as he continued to feed. He gasped and took his mouth away, his ears ringing from such power flowing between them. Never had he felt such a surge of magic, and it made him look at Alice with a mixture of amazement and confusion. She was still glowing a soft blue, fighting with her normal silver glow as she opened her purple eyes to look at him in confusion. Zarkash looked down at his hands to see his own body glowing green. He blinked a few times before smiling broadly, looking up at Alice in excitement.  
"Let's try it." Zarkash said, standing and stepping away from her before turning into his lion form, then transforming before Alice's surprised gaze into his true demon form- the Fomorian demon of legend, that of the protector of animals. Alice blinked in surprise as Zarkash looked down at himself, turning his furred arms to inspect his form with an eager smile.  
~It worked!~ Zarkash said happily in Alice's mind, his hooves clipping against the floor as he walked toward her. ~Looks like I'm finally unsealed.~  
"That's you're true form?" Alice looked up at him in shock. He looked like the mixture of several animals- wolf, lion, goat…  
~Yeah, it is. You're not scared are you?~ Zarkash frowned, his ears flipping back against his head as his tail drooped uneasily.  
"No." Alice laughed at his sudden wariness. It was much easier to tell his emotion in this form, at least. "I guess I'm just used to your human form."  
~Oh, well I can stay in that form if you'd prefer.~ Zarkash said, but it was obvious by his tone that he was disappointed.  
"No, you're fine. Where will you sleep though? That form is pretty tall."  
Zarkash looked up at the ceiling, which was only a few inches from his horns. ~True.~ He changed back into his human form, sitting on the bed beside her and glancing at her uneasily. "So, you wanted to sleep then? Did you want me to turn cat?"  
Alice looked down at the sheets thoughtfully. "Well, I guess you can sleep on the floor next to the bed or something if you want. You don't have to constantly be in your cat form in the dorm room." She shrugged, blushing a little.  
Zarkash smiled happily and nodded, sitting down on the carpeted floor. He heard Alice settle into bed as he laid down on the carpet, letting out a long sigh. He looked up in time to see a blanket falling toward him and struggled under it before looking at Alice in confusion.  
"You need something to sleep with. Don't worry about me." Alice smiled down at him and disappeared behind the mattress.  
He took the blanket and looked at it in confusion, then bunched it up and set it under his head to protect his horns. He waited until Alice was sleeping softly before sitting up and looking down at her on the mattress. She was like an angel while she slept- her face framed by her golden hair. He had the sudden urge to touch her, so he carefully lowered a hand down to the side of her face, resting his palm against her cheek cautiously. He never would have thought this girl would be the one that had summoned him, but he was glad that she did. He had somehow gotten attached to this girl in the short time he had known her- she was far too sweet, and innocent. The opposite of his own personality. He watched in surprise as she moved into his palm, humming in content as she moved her cheek against his hand. He flushed at the sight and feeling of her smooth skin, taking his hand away and rubbing it with his other palm uneasily. Ricky was right- it was wrong for a demon to be with a human, yet he couldn't stop thinking of her. What the hell was wrong with him? Zarkash growled lowly as he laid back down on the carpet, his mind racing with thoughts until he slowly fell asleep as well.

"Alice! Zarkash! You have to see this!" Ricky burst into the room, making both Alice and Zarkash yell in fear, Zarkash holding a glowing hand toward Ricky as his eyesight focused.  
"FUCK man, don't do that!" The demon growled, lowering his hand and rubbing his aching head from lack of sleep.  
"See what? What's wrong?" Alice looked at the concerned expression on Ricky.  
"Someone wrote on one of the walls. It's in runes so I can't read it, but some of the students who can are freaking out- they're saying it's about you, Zarkash."  
Zarkash froze looking up at the angel with wide eyes. He scrambled to his feet and looked down the hall of dorms at the crowd gathered around a particular spot among the stone walls. He walked over, looking at the runes in front of him with wide orange and red eyes.  
'ZARKASH WILL DIE'.  
The demon stepped back in shock, looking down the hall to see Alice running toward him, Ricky following.  
"He's a lot closer than I thought. I thought he was just near the school, not in it." Zarkash muttered, glancing at Alice as she read the runes as well and gasped, covering her mouth with her hand in fear.  
"There's nothing to do now." Jeremy's strong voice cut through the crowd as he walked through the masses of people. "What's done is done, and for now we can do nothing but go on with our lives like normal. This just means you should keep your guard up at all times, Zarkash."  
Zarkash nodded, glancing toward Alice. "I've been unsealed, so at least we don't have to worry about that."  
"Ah, good. That will make things easier, indeed." Jeremy nodded in satisfaction. "Just go about your daily routine as normal then, and we'll discuss this if there's any added information on where Morg might be hiding."  
Zarkash nodded, sighing as the group dispersed, until only Alice and Ricky remained with them. "We should get going to lunch soon, then."Zarkash said, walking stiffly back toward their dorm room.

Alice stood in the lunch line, waiting her turn to pick what she wanted for her meal. She sighed as Zarkash stood beside her, glancing around uneasily, clearly on edge.  
"Please calm down? You're making me feel like I'll spontaneously combust." Alice whispered. Zarkash looked at her in surprise.  
"That can happen?" He said, his voice uneasy.  
Alice let out a sigh, rolling her eyes. "No, of course not. It's a figure of speech. Just calm down, things will be okay."  
"Hey guys." Suro waved, walking over to them. "Have you heard the rumor? Have you really been unsealed, sir?" Suro smiled to Zarkash.  
"Where did you hear that?" Zarkash growled fiercely. Suro's eyes widened in fear as he took a step back uneasily.  
"J-just around sir, you know- rumors." Suro looked up at the menu and chose meatloaf again, while Alice got a turkey sandwich.  
"Well don't spread it anymore, okay? I don't want it getting out too much." The demon growled in discontent.  
Suro nodded quickly as they walked back to the empty table Ricky and Mio were sitting at. Zarkash watched as Suro bumped into Alice, a bright silver light to flash through the room, sending Suro flying, hitting the far wall with an 'oof' of pain, sliding down to the floor. Alice gasped in shock, falling to the ground, but was caught in Zarkash's arms.  
"What the hell happened?!" Zarkash growled, setting a better grip of Alice so that he could carry her in his arms. Ricky ran over to Alice as she glowed a deep blue, his eyes wide in fear. He took something out of his pocket and swore loudly, looking down at Alice in horror. Zarkash glanced at Suro, who was groaning in pain against the wall, a hand covering his strangely contorted face.  
"Get her out of here, Zarkash- quickly." The angel said, his voice laced with terror. Zarkash looked at Ricky in confusion before running out of the room with Alice, looking down at her as he ran through the hallways toward their dorm room.

Ricky looked down at the silver gemstone in his hand, swearing again when he saw the large crack up the side of its smooth surface. It was pulsating a deep blue glow, the crack suddenly widening before his eyes. This couldn't be happening… they had made sure the magic had been strong enough, and yet…


	16. Chapter 16

Why wasn't she waking up? Zarkash laid Alice down on the bed in her dorm room, looking her over for any signs of injury, but nothing was there. Ricky came into the doorway, panting from running after Zarkash.  
"What did he do to her?" Zarkash whispered as Ricky walked over in concern.  
"Who did what?" Ricky looked to Zarkash in confusion.  
"Suro. He bumped into her, there was a bright light and now suddenly she won't wake up. He must have done something to her." Zarkash growled in anger at the boy.  
"Suro can't do anything, I don't see why you're so against him." Ricky said, rolling his eyes in exasperation.  
"He has a reason to be." A deep voice came from the doorway behind them. Zarkash and Ricky turned around to see Suro in the doorway, a menacing smile over his face, revealing rows of fangs.  
"What the hell?" Ricky muttered as Zarkash stood up, his eyes wide.  
"No fucking way." The demon whispered as Suro laughed.  
"You really bought it didn't you Zarkash? You even came to me for help!" Suro's laugh deepened until his eyes watered from the effort. "I never thought you'd be so stupid."  
"Morg." Zarkash growled, lowering his stance to be ready for an attack, his fangs bared in anger.  
"Yes, Zarkash. I've been under your nose this entire time. I'm surprised you hadn't guessed sooner." Morg shrugged, but grinned again. "And originally I was just going to kill that girl to cause you pain. I found out something very interesting while going through her mind though. Especially that angelic barrier."  
Ricky now stood up, his teeth bared as he moved protectively in front of Alice.  
"Yes, that is interesting indeed. Why would angels need to have a barrier in her mind? I tried to pass the wall of magic blocking whatever was sealed away, but I think you saw the consequences. Quite strong magic in that girl. That's why I decided not to kill her- but instead to take her with me." Morg held out a hand, his yellow eyes glowing. "Come my dear, it's time to go."  
Zarkash looked behind him as Alice sat up, her eyes open to reveal her normally purple eyes had turned a blood-red. She looked ahead of her with a blank stare as she stood, moving toward Morg in the doorway.  
"Wait- Alice, stop!" Zarkash grabbed her wrist to keep her with him but hissed in pain when her magic singed his palm. She took her wrist out of his grip to stand beside Morg.  
"Now, we'll be going. Follow us if you want, though I think I already know you will." Morg moved out into the hallway, his skin erupting with black scales as he moved toward the window on the other side of the wide hallway. Black wings sprouted from his back as he took Alice into his arms, leaping out the window and flying off into the night, storm clouds broiling overhead.  
Zarkash hissed in fear, while both he and Ricky ran for the window, Zarkash forming into a hawk as he jumped out and Ricky unfolding his black wings, gliding after the demon.  
"We have to get Alice back- I'll distract Morg while you get her away." Ricky yelled to the demon, who nodded in his hawk form in answer. They landed on the ground, Zarkash turning into a fox as he ran toward Alice as she stood beside the growing dragon. Morg stood in his true form, the huge black dragon chuckling as he watched the angel fly toward him with determination. The dragon froze with shock as A black light shot from Ricky's hands, the dragon dodging the attack and looking at the angel with new interest. "This gets better all the time. A black angel- I haven't seen one of those since I was a hatchling." Morg chuckled, taking to the air was well to combat Ricky.  
Zarkash reached Alice as she stood with a blank expression, her red eyes still staring ahead of her. Zarkash turned to his human form, grabbing Alice by the shoulders and shaking her slightly.  
"Alice- wake up, please." Zarkash whispered, looking up at the dragon as black and yellow light flashed above. He flinched as rain started falling from the looming clouds overhead, the downpour soon drenching the both of them. Morg must be trying to slow Ricky down- feathers can't fly as well when they're wet, but dragon wings aren't effected by rain.  
"Come on, wake up." Zarkash growled, shaking Alice harder, but she still stared ahead with a blank stare. Was she going to stay like this? Had Morg taken her mind permanently? The thought sent a deep twinge of pain to shook through him, tying his stomach in a knot. He might never be able to talk to her again. The thought made him want to scream in defiance- after all they'd been through- how could this be the end?  
He felt something tingle his cheek and reached up, feeling water falling down his face, but not from the rain. He blinked in surprise, but let out a growl and turned back toward Alice.  
"Please Alice, you can't be gone. It can't be like this." He set his forehead against her shoulder, trying to get some reaction out of her, but she stayed perfectly still. He choked with emotion and took her face in her hands, his fangs bared angrily.  
"You can't leave me like this, you stupid girl. Not after all we've been through- not after I finally realized that…" He stopped, his hair falling in front of his face as his eyes burned. He hesitated before moving toward her, meeting her lips with his softly. He eased back to see if she reacted, swearing when her eyes remained red. He kissed her harder, moving his hand through her soaked blond hair to raised her head toward him. He moved away from her, looking her over for any reaction at all- both eyes a deep red. He let go of her, shaking with anger as he realized she was gone- gone forever.  
Zarkash turned around, his fangs bared as he looked over toward the dragon as it landed on the ground, Ricky kneeling in exhaustion as he landed as well.  
_You have gained my protection, young one. Take care of her._  
Zarkash heard the sultry woman's voice through his mind, his thoughts blank as rage boiled through him. He let out a scream of anger, growing into a strange mixture of animals, larger than anything that he had ever attempted. He had the body of a lizard, the claws of a badger, His true form's horns and larger claws that ripped deep rivets into the ground as he ran toward Morg, fangs bared. He jumped onto the dragons back, sinking his claws into the scales as he bit as hard as he could into Morg's spine. The dragon roared in pain, flailing Zarkash around as he tried to get the creature off his back. He took to the air, taking Zarkash with him until he started rolling through the sky, Zarkash hanging on as long as he could until he was flung off, falling toward the ground. He fell into a heap against the grass.  
Ricky looked at Zarkash with a mixture of shock and horror. He couldn't believe what had just happened. He glanced over at Alice, who still made no reaction. He swore loudly and took the gemstone out of his pocket, holding the delicate gem in his fist.  
"My parents are going to kill me, but it's the only way." He whispered, squeezing the crystal until it broke in his grip. He hissed in pain as slivers of the stone bit into his palm, watching as the storm clouds overhead started spinning above Alice. He stepped back in surprise as Alice glowed a bright silver, a funnel of wind engulfing her. Ricky looked up as a woman appeared above Alice, her black dragon-like wings and devils tail moving with the storm around her. Ricky watched as Alice arched her back, white horns growing from the top of her head as her ears lengthened slightly, her eyes darkening until they were completely black, and without pupils. She looked around her in confusion, looking toward the body on the ground beside Morg as the dragon landed on the ground again.  
"Zarkash?" Alice whispered, her eyes widening in horror. She reached for the link between them, but felt only silence from him. "Zarkash!" She yelled, running over to the creature he had turned into. He was scratched and torn, broken bones and one of his horns broken in half. He wasn't moving.  
Alice let out a loud animal-like growl, looking toward Morg.  
_Teach him a lesson, sweetie. He's caused us too much pain to go without punishment._  
Alice lost focus with reality, raising her hands above her head as fury clouded her thoughts. She started chanting in a foreign language, power building around her until the ground in front of her split open, a deep chasm opening, fire spewing from its depths. A loud growl sounded from inside it, and one large black paw settled on the surface, followed by another. It hoisted the rest of its body up, revealing monstrous black dog with three heads, each of them looking in hatred toward Morg. Alice smiled in satisfaction and gasped, her eyes rolling into her head before she collapsed to the ground.  
_My turn._ The sultry voice echoed through the field, making Morg suddenly look around in fear. The woman from above Alice landed on the ground beside her, her wings folding around her shoulders.  
"I've had just about enough of you, dragon." The woman hissed, holding up a hand. Morg shook his head in fear, his eyes wide as he backed up.  
"No, please… I'll stop, I'll leave them alone." The dragon pleaded.  
"Too late my dear. You killed my husband, remember?" The demoness smiled, and lowered her hand, the scales and skin on Morg melting from his body as he screamed in pain, writhing on the ground. "Now you won't bother anyone, will you?" She growled, then turned to Alice behind her. She smiled down at the girl, but looked up at Ricky as he stared at her in shock, his jaw hung open.  
"That's not polite, boy." The woman smiled, waving a finger in scorn. Ricky shut his jaw, blinking as he watched her walk over to Zarkash.  
"Poor Zarkash. Such pain you've been through, just because you're kind." She sighed, putting a finger to the demon's forehead. He glowed silver for a minute, his body reforming itself until he opened his eyes, looking up at the woman in front of him. He gasped in shock and turned to his human form, scrambling backwards away from her with wide eyes.  
"No need to be afraid, dear." She smiled sweetly. "You're under my protection now, remember?"  
Zarkash shook his head cautiously. "No, your majesty, I don't. I'm sorry."  
"No need for such formalities." She pouted. "After all, you've taken such good care of my daughter, it's the least I can do."  
"Y-you're daughter? Ma'am?" Zarkash blinked in surprise. Who knew the queen of hell had a daughter?  
"Of course. Though I had no idea she'd summon Cerberus. He's such a good doggie, aren't you boy?" She looked up at the three-headed dog, who barked in response, his immense tail thumping the ground.  
"S-summon? _Daughter summoned_?" Zarkash stared in shock. "No way."  
"Oh yes, I haven't seen her for at least 10 years. After those nasty angels sealed her demonic blood away I couldn't talk to her. But I suppose it was for the best." She shrugged, winking to Ricky who was still staring in shock at the queen of hell. "Either way, she seemed very upset to see you so hurt. I think you should go to her." The demoness pointed to Alice, who still laid on the ground.  
"Alice!" Zarkash smiled, scrambling to his feet before running over to her. He stared in surprise at the white horns sprouting from her blond hair and kneeled by her, feeling the link between them again. He sighed in relief, picking her up gently in his arms, looking down at her soft expression.  
"Morg is gone then?" Zarkash looked over at the remains of the dragon in disbelief.  
"Well I couldn't let the bastard that killed my Evan live, could I? Nasty beast." The demoness hissed at the corpse, but smiled back at Zarkash and Ricky. "Let's get Alice inside, and we'll wait until she wakes up before we tell her what happened. It'll probably come as a bit of a surprise after so many years."  
Zarkash chuckled. "That's an understatement. I don't think she had any idea what she really was." Zarkash glanced down at her horns again. "I sure didn't."  
"Angel magic is very strong." Ricky nodded. "I broke the gem that held her- it was the only way to keep her alive. My parents are going to be so pissed though."  
"I'll have a word with them, if you want me to." The queen smiled sweetly.  
Ricky blinked at her for a minute before smiling wryly. "Probably not a good idea." He snickered.


	17. Chapter 17

Zarkash walked down the hall of the school, ignoring student's stares as he carried Alice, drenched in rain. He glanced down to her to see her still asleep, her white horns rubbing against his shoulder as he walked. It was strange to see her with horns after knowing her so long as a human, but this made more sense than he'd like to admit. It explained the strange pulling he had felt toward her- the kind he was only supposed to feel toward other demons.  
He looked up as the queen snickered behind him, seeing Jeremy staring from down the hall. The headmaster ran down the hall as fast as he could, staring down at Alice with wide eyes before looking to the queen.  
"What are you doing here? I thought you had to go back." The old man whispered.  
"I had unfinished business to take care of." She said, suddenly serious as she frowned. "That dragon was about to kill my daughter, and her mate. I wasn't about to let that happen. Luckily this smart boy here decided to take matter into his own hands." The queen put a hand on Ricky's shoulder, whose feathers on his wings bristled at the contact.  
"Mate? I'm not her mate!" Zarkash turned around with Alice, his face flushed.  
"Oh fine. Really good friend." The queen waved a hand in dismissal.  
Zarkash grumbled slightly, his face still flushed. He walked into Alice's dorm room, sitting on the bed and holding her tightly in his arms. He was still fearful that her mind had been damaged by Morg's takeover. Would she be the same person when she woke up again? What if being demon changed her?  
He let out a growl and buried his face in her hair, one of his horns rubbing against hers comfortingly. What was it that he was feeling? A sense of crazed protectiveness, wanting to keep her from any other male's eyesight- to keep her all to himself. He let out a small sound of confusion, looking up when the queen walked into the room.  
"You really are dense, aren't you sweetie?" She smiled, sitting on the bed beside Zarkash.  
The demon looked at her in confusion at the statement, making the queen chuckle.  
"Do you know how you feel toward Alice? Any idea at all what's going through your little horned head? It's a very rare emotion for a demon to feel, so I want to make sure you understand it."  
"Rare emotion? What- that I want to protect her?" Zarkash said uneasily, still not understanding.  
The queen sighed in frustration. "No, young one. You are from Luxuria, no? What is it that you feel toward her in the lust department? You want to have your way with her hard and fast don't you?" The queen smiled at Zarkash's sudden blush. "I thought so. Don't be so surprised- I'm the queen, I have to know these things." She shrugged. "Besides, that's just one part of it. You don't want to hurt her- you're afraid of even touching her sometimes."  
"She's just a girl, I don't want her to get wounded again."  
"Yes, but why is the question I'm asking- why do you not want to see her hurt? You won't get hurt if she does anymore, so why bother protecting her?"  
Zarkash thought for a minute, looking down at Alice, who still laid silent in his arms. Her face was peaceful- making that strange twinge travel through his stomach and chest again. He looked up in surprise as a thought passed through his mind. The queen smiled, seeing the sudden revelation in his eyes.  
"I love her? I thought demons couldn't love." He murmured.  
"Normally no, they can't. That's the significance with you- you may not be the strongest demon when it comes to power, but you're one of the most strong when it comes to living. Most demons don't have the capacity for loving, yet you do it without even realizing it. That's what Irtasha saw in you- that's what she was trying to protect."  
Zarkash nodded softly, holding Alice to him in strong arms. He held her on his lap as she stirred, her eyes slowly opening to look up at him. She let out a loud noise of excitement at seeing him unharmed, jumping up to wrap her arms around his neck.  
"Zarkash! You're okay? How did you heal so quickly- I was so worried about you." She hugged him tightly, laughing in happiness. She had been horrified, seeing him lying motionless on the ground.  
Zarkash laughed, wrapping his arms around her as well. "Your mother healed me. I'm just glad you're awake. You scared the shit out of me." The demon sighed in relief.  
"Wait- my mother?" Alice pulled away from him in confusion.  
"Yes dear, mother. I'm sorry I couldn't see you sooner." She queen said softly. Alice turned around at the familiar voice but squeaked in surprise when she saw the woman it belonged to had black wings and a tail.  
"You're a demon? My mom's a demon?" Alice said, her mind reeling from the thought- wait- that made her a half demon…  
"Not just any demon, Alice. She's the queen." Zarkash grinned at her squeak. She was still her old self.  
"I have much to tell you, but for now I think your angel friend is about pulling his feathers out waiting to see how you are." The queen chuckled. She stood and walked over to the door, pulling open and standing aside when Ricky stumbled in after leaning on the door impatiently. He looked up at Alice and smiled happily, looking her over to make sure she was alright.  
"So I guess this means you know what you are now?" He said, suddenly feeling uneasy. After all- he had been the one keeping the secret of her true form from her.  
"Yeah, I suppose so. It's kind of impossible though, since I don't have horns or anything." She chuckled.  
"Um…" Zarkash touched one of her white horns, making Alice jump in surprise. She blinked in confusion and reached up, feeling the long slightly curved horns sprouting from her hair. "B-but… those weren't…"  
"That was part of the sealing. I broke the gem that held your demon form from view." Ricky smiled crookedly.  
"So then… I really am a demon?" She said softly, glancing to Zarkash to see his reaction.  
"Yeah, you are." He said, his voice low as he pulled her toward him again, ignoring Ricky's presence as he tried to comfort her. "That doesn't change anything though- your brother will still be here, and I'll still be here. No one's leaving you because you're different." He said softly, holding her trembling body. She whimpered in his grip and burst out into tears, making Zarkash look down at her in horror.  
"What did I do? Did I say something wrong?" The demon said frantically, looking around at the others around him for answers.  
Ricky rolled his eyes as the queen giggled in amusement. "No Zarkash, you did nothing wrong. She's happy."  
"Then why is she crying? That makes no sense." Zarkash looked down at Alice in concern.  
"I was afraid you'd leave me if I was a demon. It explains why I could never summon from heaven, though." Alice laughed, her voice wavering with emotion.  
"Why would I leave you? You're the same person, just… with horns." Zarkash blinked in confusion at the sentence- thinking it sounded odd. He shrugged and put a hand under her chin to gently lift her face so she looked up at him, her purple eyes misty. "Things will still be like before, but you'll just have to deal with a few more stares than usual. I'll teach you how to hide your horns. Just don't summon any more giant demon dogs- that thing is driving me nuts." Zarkash bared his fangs toward the window, feeling the mental connection between the three of them- the dog saying mentally 'FOOD FOOD FOOD FOOD' constantly.  
"Giant demon dog?" Alice looked toward where Zarkash was pointing, slipping from his grip to look out the window. She gasped in surprise at the three-headed dog waiting in the field below, looking up at the window patiently. He wagged his immense tail when he saw Alice, the mental thought turning to 'MASTER- FOOD? MASTER- FOOD? MASTER- FOOD?' Alice sighed, holding her head from the combined links of Zarkash and Cerberus.  
Zarkash stood, walking over to her in concern as she wobbled where she stood. He stood next to her, ready to catch her if she fell.  
"Why did you summon him, anyway?" Zarkash looked out the window at the dog, hearing 'FRIEND- FOOD?'  
"I didn't mean to- I just saw you on the ground and got… angry…" Alice sighed.  
"That's an understatement. You summoned Cerberus from another plane of existence, Alice." The queen snickered. "Summoners can only summon one thing at once- that's true, but one thing from each plane. You managed to pull Cerberus from another version of Hell."  
"Another version? There's more than one?" Zarkash said in amazement.  
"Oh yes, there's many. I'll have to bring Cerberus back to Hades sometime soon though- that man is so finicky about his dumb dog."  
"Hades? I took Cerberus from Greek mythology?"  
"Greek, Roman- it's the same thing in that plane. But yes- you pulled him from the Hell of Greek mythology. Just like there are different mythologies, there are different Hells. Just be careful you don't summon from the Hindu plane. They might not be quite so forgiving."  
"But if you can travel through planes- then… what are you? You can't be a demon." Alice said in confusion.  
"You're right, I'm not- let's just say I'm a very old creature. One you probably haven't heard of, and it would take far too long to explain. In simple terms, let's just say I'm the equivalent to a demi-godess. You my dear, are still a half demon- since that's my current form."  
Alice nodded, but wasn't sure she understood yet. If this was her current form- what was her real form?  
"I must go now, and I will take Cerberus with me. I don't think you need him trouncing around your courtyards." The queen smiled, walking over to Alice and hugging her tightly. "I'll keep in touch, dear. Stay safe, and don't let anyone make you feel bad for what you are."  
Alice nodded, comforted by her mother's embrace. The queen released her grip and took a few steps back, vanishing in a small flame, a light from the window telling Cerberus had done the same.  
"Well then, I suppose the secret's out." The headmaster sighed. "For now we'll keep this as hushed as possible to keep away the fuzz- but after graduation is another thing. We'll discuss this later. For now, it's lights out."  
"The fuzz?" Zarkash looked at Jeremy in confusion.  
"The police. The 'magic ordinance' police to be precise. They'd love to get their hands on a living demon, especially a male and a female." He said in a dark tone, pushing Ricky out of the room. He turned around, his eyes bright as he stared at Zarkash with a serious expression.  
"I'll have no shinanigans in my school, Zarkash- do you hear me? None of that- and you know what I mean. You have to learn human customs now too, if you want to stay with her for more than a few years."  
Zarkash nodded, surprised by Jeremy's sudden seriousness. He watched the headmaster look at him again before closing the door tightly.  
"What did he mean? I don't get it." Alice looked up at Zarkash in confusion. He looked down at her, his cheeks reddening.  
"Nothing." He growled, walking over and laying on the floor beside the bed. Alice sat on the bed, feeling her horns again and sighing. This was going to take some getting used to. She tried to sleep, but wasn't able to get comfortable with her horns keeping her face from the pillow. She let out a soft noise of frustration, growling into the pillow. Zarkash sat up and looked over at her, seeing her discomfort and couldn't help but chuckle. He walked over to the bed, laying beside her and putting one of his arms under the pillow, raising it so that Alice could set her head down without her horns getting in the way. Alice blushed and curled her body a little tighter, glancing over her shoulder to him. She could hear his breathing as he lay beside her, his breath tickling the back of her neck as he closed his eyes to sleep.  
"Zarkash?" Alice whispered in the darkness, flinching when it was louder than she had expected in the silence.  
"Yeah?" He answered, sounding drowsy. Alice rolled herself over so that she was facing him, her eyes widening when he was just a few inches away.  
"What happened, anyway? I know I was trapped, but I don't know how it happened."  
Zarkash smiled, opening his eyes to look up at her. "Morg took over your mind, and tried to take you with him. Suro turned out to be Morg in disguise. You were under his power, and wouldn't wake up so I got… a little angry."  
Alice bit her lip nervously in the silence. "I thought you were dead. It really scared me." She looked down uneasily. "I got angry too."  
"Yeah, I know." Zarkash chuckled. He looked up at her white horns and smiled softly. "You were scared I got hurt?" He said, his voice hopeful but still cautious.  
"Of course." Alice blushed. "I… thought he had… killed you. You weren't breathing at all."  
"And I thought you had lost your mind to Morg." He was glad she didn't remember the kiss- what if she didn't want him to be with her?  
"So then you were scared of loosing me too?" Alice smiled sweetly. Zarkash blushed at such an innocent smile and looked away quickly.  
"Yeah, well. I guess I've gotten to like you some."  
"Some?" Alice whispered, moving closer to him. "I remember what you did in the rain, Zarkash. I just couldn't move or talk. I was still in there, trapped behind something. Did… did you really mean what you said?" Alice whispered, her cheeks blushed as she looked down uneasily.  
Zarkash blinked in shock, blushing as well. "Uh… yeah. You were awake, then?" Zarkash wondered if she regretted him kissing her, or not.  
"Yeah." Alice looked for his reaction, gasping when she realized both of Zarkash's eyes were now red.  
"Zarkash- your eyes changed! What does that mean?"  
Zarkash smiled wryly, snaking his other arm around her waist to bring her closer to him. "What do you think?"  
Alice blushed, gasping as Zarkash leaned closer. "Um… that… you… like me?" She whispered.  
"Love." Zarkash said softly, kissing her gently. He felt Alice melt in his grip, deepening the kiss with a low growl.  
"I SAID NO SHINANIGANS! I can smell you from down the hall!" Jeremy's voice yelled from the other side of the door.  
Zarkash released a dazed Alice, letting out a growl of frustration. He kept Alice gripped tightly to him, rubbing his horns against hers comfortingly. "We should just sleep for now. You need your rest." He said softly, smiling as she nodded quickly, her eyes still wide. He settled in next to her, taking in a deep breath, smelling her soft scent all around him.


	18. Chapter 18

_Zarkash walked down the sidewalk, in his trying-to-look-human illusion. He didn't like the fact that he had to hide his horns and even worse- shorten his hair, but that was the price to pay to live normally in the human world. He had left Alice alone at the apartment after she had insisted she would be safe there- and she also said she wanted to tell him something after he got back. Something exciting. By the looks of the happiness in her eyes it was something very good, but that still made him very nervous. You never know what that girl was going to cook up next- but that's what he enjoyed most. For some reason he felt a strange third presence in his mind, besides Alice's constant link. He figure it had just been another quick summoning and wrote it off, but it was still there- very faint and somehow growing stronger with each passing minute.  
He looked up at the loud blaring siren of a fire truck, sniffing the air and smelling burning wood nearby. The hair stood on the back of his neck and he willed the truck not to turn left toward the only apartment building for miles… Don't turn left… Don't turn left…  
He swore loudly when it veered left, shouts sounding out from around the corner. Zarkash ran around the corner to see the apartments in a huge blaze- fire spouting from windows and the rooftop. His breath caught in his throat as he reached for Alice, but both links only registered pain- intense pain. He let out an agonized cry and fought through the line of firemen who had blocked off the gathering crowd. He spotted a familiar face in a long trench coat and ran over to Ricky, his red eyes wild.  
"Where is she?" He said frantically. Ricky's blue eyes were just as wide.  
"She called me on her cell- she babbled incoherently, I have no idea what she was trying to tell me but she mentioned Bagra, the apartment and something about the table in your kitchen. I have no idea- I think she still might be inside. I can't go in to look for her though." The angel looked at the demon, his eyes pleading.  
Zarkash didn't hesitate- he let his horns grow even in front of the crowd of onlookers, risking exposure but not caring. He pushed past the firemen and ran into the door of the building, bounding up the stairs to their apartment door. The flames licked at his skin harmlessly as he pushed the door open, raking deep nails into the wood as he fought to break in.  
"ALICE!" Zarkash yelled, hoping to hear a reply as he glanced through the broken timbers of the door, but heard nothing but the burning wood around him. The link now only held one emotion- remorse. A soft, fading sound as the link started to drift. He moved aside fallen rafters as he searched, looking around the once familiar rooms. He remembered Ricky had mentioned the kitchen and ran into the room, seeing a pale hand from underneath another fallen rafter. His breath caught in his throat and he shoved the wood aside to see Alice's emotionless face, her body completely still. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her toward the door, faltering when he started dragging the kitchen table with them. He looked down to see her wrists tied to the legs of the table by thick rope, one of the pieces halfway chewed through by something. He looked at her free wrist to see it red from binding, and let out a long angry hiss. He leaned down and cut the other rope with a long claw, holding her tightly to him as he made his way back down to the first floor. Shielding her from most of the flames with his body, he walked out the door and ran over to Ricky, setting her down on the cool sidewalk. Her face was blistered and burned, her arms red and black, skin peeling from her wounds. Never had he seen her with such horrible wounds, and so very pale.  
Ricky leaned down, his eyes wide as he looked at her wounds. Ricky put two fingers to her neck- Zarkash had never understood why he did that- and his teeth grinded together as he positioned himself closer to Alice. He set a fist on her chest, the other one supporting his body as he pushed down in a rhythm over her heart.  
"Breath into her mouth." He said, looking up at Zarkash. The demon looked down at him in confusion.  
"DO IT!" Ricky said fiercely, keeping the rhythm of his pushes going against her chest.  
Zarkash nodded and leaned down- opening her mouth and plugging her nose, breathing gently into her. They kept the cycle going for a few minutes before Ricky's pushes were accompanied with soft moans as he whispered desperately. He finally stopped, leaning back and letting his blond hair cover her eyes.  
"It's no use." He said, his voice wavering. Zarkash looked up at him in horror, glancing down to Alice.  
"What we were doing… was trying to keep her alive?" Zarkash said nervously.  
"No, she was already gone." Ricky choked. "We were trying to bring her back. But she's gone."  
Zarkash whimpered softly, looking down at Alice as his eyes burned with emotion. She had felt remorse- her last thoughts must have been of him. The other link was gone too. His mind was empty- the only thoughts running through his head were his own. He felt cold- bereft. Everything he had tried to build- everything he had lived for in the past year, was gone in an instant. He picked Alice up, tears running down his face as pain ran through him in waves.  
"Screw it." Ricky hissed, taking off his trench coat putting his hands to her back as Zarkash held her tightly in his arms. Ricky unfurled his great black wings, his expression pained as the air around them filled with black feathers._

Zarkash woke with a start, sitting up so quickly his head spun. He looked around him and realized he was still in the high school, and not in the strange place that had been the scene of the nightmare he had awoken from. Had it been a nightmare? Or something more? It seemed far too real to be anything his own imagination would think of- he didn't even know what a kitchen table was. Who was Bagra? He looked down at Alice as she stirred against him, his eyes widening when he realized one of her legs was hiked up around his, her arm settled gently on his chest. She was nestled close to him in her sleep- wrapped around him tight as a ribbon. He gulped nervously, knowing he would get in huge trouble with not only Jeremy, but Ricky, and her mother. Oh FUCK her mother would know! Zarkash frantically tried to calm himself as he thought of all the horrible things the queen of hell would do to him if she found out he was taking advantage of Alice in her sleep- though, she was more taking advantage of him at this point. He froze when she let out a soft moan, a smile coming over her face. Why did he feel so uneasy? He was a demon of Luxuria- he should know how to act in situations like this. But with Alice everything was different- he didn't want to hurt her in any way, and it seemed that if he even touched her she would break from the contact. He set the back of his hand gently on her cheek, smiling when she moved into the touch, sighing softly.  
"I don't want to lose you." Zarkash whispered, glad she was still asleep. That nightmare had scared him- he had never felt so terrified in his entire life. Even when fighting Morg when he was young- he hadn't been as scared as when he had seen her lifeless in that dream. What had it meant? Was it something that was going to happen someday, or just a possibility? Alice stirred against him and opened her eyes slowly.  
"What?" She said sleepily.  
"Nothing." Zarkash smiled, wrapping his arms around her comfortingly. "I have a question though. What's a kitchen table?"  
Alice opened her eyes again and blinked in confusion for a minute. "Why do you want to know all of a sudden?"  
"I had a dream. I have a few more questions after that too." Zarkash said, careful to keep his tone calm, but knew she could feel the fear that was still coursing through him through their mental link.  
"A kitchen table is usually pretty big, and people eat at it after they cook food in the kitchen. The kitchen is where all the tools to keep and cook food are."  
"And what does it mean when you push on someone's chest and breath into their mouth?"  
"What, like CPR? It's to start someone's heart again if it's stopped. Hopefully." Alice bit her lip nervously. "What kind of dream did you have?"  
"I'll tell you in a minute. Last one- who's Bagra?"  
"OH! That's his name!" Alice smiled in realization. "That's the name of the last demon that dad summoned. A kitsune- he was kind of left here to find his way back to hell himself after Morg killed dad."  
"Wait- so he's still around here somewhere?"  
"I don't know, I was too young to remember what happened to him. I just know that Jeremy ran off with me. Come to think of it, I think I had horns back then too- that's why dad was so protective of me going out." Her eyes widened as she remembered. "I can't believe I forgot that."  
"It was probably part of the sealing. They hid some of your memories too." Zarkash said, trying to stay calm. That meant that Bagra could be anywhere- back in hell, or wandering the streets of the human world.  
"How did you know about Bagra though? I didn't mention him." Alice looked at Zarkash in confusion.  
"I had a dream, or something like a dream. I think it might have been a vision, but I don't know. It mentioned Bagra, and Ricky was there and you…" He trailed off looking down at her, debating whether he should tell her what happened.  
"What? What did I do?" She whispered, wanting to know.  
"I-I don't want to tell you. You may be scared."  
"What did something bad happen to me?" Alice whispered, her eyes widening.  
"Yes." He decided to end it at that. There was no reason for her to know the details.  
Alice stayed silent as she thought this through. It was obvious Zarkash wasn't going to tell her. Something involving Bagra, a kitchen table, CPR, her Ricky and Zarkash… If it involved something bad happening to her, and CPR… then…  
"I _died?_" Alice gasped in horror.  
Zarkash glanced down at her. "Yes."  
Alice leaned back in shock. "Do you think it'll happen for real?"  
"I don't know. I've never had anything like that." Zarkash said, his voice wavering slightly as anxiety started to creep into his mind.  
"Hey…" Alice felt the torrent of emotions coming from Zarkash in her mind. She watched as he glanced away, knowing that she felt how terrified he was of the vision.  
"It's a vision right? That doesn't mean it's set in stone. We can work against it, you know." Alice smiled, but frowned slightly when he refused to look at her.  
"I've never been so scared in my entire life, Alice. Even when I was fighting Morg, I was never that frightened."  
Alice bit her lip, not really knowing what to say. "You like me that much, huh?"  
"Love, not like. And yes." Zarkash glanced at her, his red eyes uneasy.  
"Well then we'll be fine. You'll protect me, and I won't do anything stupid like flinging myself out the window or something." She smiled.  
"Don't do that!" Zarkash blanched, making her laugh.  
"It's just a joke." She chuckled.  
"Not funny." Zarkash grumbled.  
"Wanna know something my dad used to do with me when I was feeling down?"  
"Sure." Zarkash sighed.  
"Tickle fights." Alice grinned mischeviously.  
"What's tickle- AAH!" Zarkash gasped in shock when Alice started ticking his side, moving away from her and falling off the bed. He sat up, looking down at his side but seeing no damage. "That the hell was that?"  
"You've never been tickled? Didn't your parents do that with you too?"  
"I didn't have parents." Zarkash said softly. Alice's eyes widened in surprise.  
"You mean, you didn't know your parents?"  
"No- _I didn't have parents._ Demons aren't born like that."  
Alice blinked in surprise for a minute. "You mean, you didn't have a mom? How does that work? Where did you come from then?"  
"Fire. I can't be hurt by fire, because I'm technically made from it. Fire and Lust, pretty much." Zarkash blushed slightly.  
"Wait a second…" Alice thought for a minute, and moved over to Zarkash who was sitting on the ground, tangled in the blankets. She moved the blanket from over his stomach, gasping and moving away when she saw he had no belly button.  
"What? What's wrong?" Zarkash looked down, but saw nothing abnormal.  
"You don't have a belly button!" She looked at him in surprise.  
"What's a belly button?" Zarkash's eyebrows furrowed.  
Alice lifted her shirt slightly, pointing to her belly button. "That. It's left over from the cord when you're born."  
"HOLY SHIT." Zarkash's eyes widened. "You have a hole in your stomach?! Doesn't that hurt?" Zarkash moved back over to her, looking concerned.  
Alice laughed at his concern. "No, not at all. They cut the cord when you're born so you're separated from your mother. Get it?"  
"No." Zarkash said in confusion. "Why are you attached in the first place?"  
Alice let out a deep sigh. This was going to take a lot of explaining.


	19. Chapter 19

Zarkash leaned back against the wall behind the bed, his eyes wide in shock. "So… once you get… pregnant… you carry the kid around for 9 months as it grows, then you push it out?" He blanched. "That sounds awful. Why would anyone want to do that?"  
"I thought that too when I first heard about this stuff, but then Ricky's parents told me that having a kid is one of the greatest things in the world." Alice shrugged.  
Zarkash glanced at her uneasily. "Do you want to have kids?"  
"I dunno, I never really thought about it, I guess. I'm mostly focusing on you and myself at this point." She smirked as Zarkash sighed in relief. "Besides, I don't think we could. Demons in Luxuria do that, right?"  
"All the time." Zarkash nodded.  
"And do any of them get pregnant?"  
Zarkash blinked for a minute. "No, no one." He looked over to Alice. "What does that mean?"  
"You may not be able to make a kid then, Zarkash. Maybe it's so that the Luxuria demons don't overpopulate everyone else." Alice snickered.  
Zarkash nodded, and sighed. "I still can't believe the queen did that though. She must have really loved your dad to go through all that."  
Alice grinned, knocking Zarkash on the shoulder playfully. "Of course she did, silly. They had me, didn't they? It's sort of a process."  
Zarkash repressed a low growl as his instincts started to rise at the thought. "Let's talk about something else, or Jeremy will yell at us again."  
Alice blushed, and nodded. "Do you think they'll want us to do classes still?"  
"I would think so. If anything I'll have to keep teaching the demonology class." He said thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, maybe I should discuss the other planes. I don't know anything about mythology, so maybe I'll learn more from the students."  
"Mythology is mandatory in this school, so you'll probably learn a lot"  
Zarkash thought for a minute before looking at the clock on her dresser. "We should probably get going then." He stood and opened the drawer of the dresser, throwing Alice the pieces of her uniform.  
"Get dressed, I'll be out in the hall." He paused and looked at her white horns as one of the clothing hung on it from his tossing. "Oh wait- first, close your eyes and think of your reflection in a mirror without your horns."  
Alice nodded and bit her lip, concentrating hard and the reflection of herself. She opened her eyes, but frowned, seeing her horns were still visible.  
"Hmm. Maybe you can't do it. I'll illusion them away for you then." Zarkash said casually. He stared at her for a minute, his eyes intense before smiling in satisfaction.  
"There. They'll still be there, but they're illusioned away now. Just don't ram into anyone with them." He snickered and walked out the door. Alice took the shirt off her invisible horn, reaching up to feel it still there before she sighed and started to get dressed for class. She wondered silently what Zarkash would look like without his horns, but stood fully clothed and walked out the door.  
"Class, I have some news for you today." Jeremy stood in front of the demonology class as Zarkash leaned on the desk next to him, yawning in boredom. "Suro will not be joining us for the rest of the year. It seems something has come up, and he had to depart a few days ago." Jeremy said solemnly. Ricky coughed in amusement and Alice slumped down in her desk uneasily.  
"That's one way to say it." Zarkash muttered before standing as Jeremy sat down in his seat to watch again. "Okay, today we'll be talking about something different. Planes of hell. As you know, the hell we think of is where I'm from. That of the devils and fire. But- there are others besides our own. How many of you know mythology?"  
The entire class raised their hand, making Zarkash blink in surprise. "Good. Okay then… how many mythologies are there?"  
"A lot." One student said with a smirk.  
"Uh… more specific. Anyone know?" Zarkash looked around, but saw no raised hands again. He sighed. "Okay, rough estimate then. Name some off."  
"Greek, and Roman."  
"Native American and Chinese."  
"Hindu, Shintoism, Celtic…"  
The class was silent as everyone thought. Zarkash blinked in shock at the amount of mythologies. That meant for each mythology there was another version of hell with all new demons inhabiting it…  
Well shit, that's a lot.  
"Okay. Good enough. Now- for each of those mythologies, there's another plane of hell. That is to say, there's another version of it with entirely different demons."  
Ricky's eyes widened. "So, a demon can come from any one of them?" He said in a low tone.  
"I suppose. I don't know if they can travel from plane to plane. I just found out about this myself last night." Zarkash shrugged. Some people in the class chuckled.  
"So then, there's not just the demons in our own hell, but others? Is it infinite? How did the other planes come into existence?" Mio said thoughtfully.  
"Woah woah- those are questions I can't answer." Zarkash raised a hand in defense.  
"So Zarkash, you're saying that demons can be in any shape, and that we should not expect them to be what we usually think of. Is that what you're trying to say?" Jeremy said in interest.  
"Yeah. Pretty much." Zarkash nodded.  
"I see. Well then let's do a review of mythology for the rest of class to brush up on what may happen of one of the demons happens to cross over into our own plane." Jeremy stood, telling the class to open their books to the next blank page to begin.

"I had no idea there were that many planes." Zarkash said, looking down to Alice nervously. "And you can summon anything from any of them?"  
"I suppose. I'd have to ask mom." Alice shrugged. She smiled softly at the idea that she could still talk to her mother. Just a few days ago she had thought she was still an orphan.  
"Hey Wings, can I see you for a minute?" Mio smiled to Ricky, who was walking beside Alice.  
"Uh… sure." Ricky said, glancing to Alice. "Wait for me, okay?"  
"No problem." Alice said, amused as Ricky walked over to the other end of the hallway, talking with Mio.  
"What are they talking about?" Zarkash looked down at Alice, seeing her amused expression.  
"Probably something about prom." Alice smiled at Ricky's deep blush and surprised face. "Oh yeah, definitely prom."  
"What's a prom?" Zarkash looked over to Ricky, wondering why he looked so embarrassed. Usually Ricky was much more composed than that.  
"It's a dance. You ask someone to prom, and dance with you, go out to dinner with you and have a fun time. We only have one dance at this school, since the other dances always coincide with either the full, new or half moon. Some students are really affected by the lunar cycles."  
"So… what's dancing?" Zarkash blinked in confusion.  
"Oh God." Alice put a hand over her face in frustration. "You've never danced before? Ever?"  
"No, what is it?"  
She sighed, trying to think of a good way to explain it. "It's getting close to each other and moving around in a rhythm to music. It's very romantic." She said wistfully.  
"And you like doing it?" Zarkash looked down at her smile.  
"Well yeah, all girls do. Usually you go with your boyfriend."  
"Boyfriend?" Zarkash muttered, his eyebrows lowered. This was so confusing…  
"Uh… our version of saying 'mate'. You get a boyfriend, then after you're sure you want to stay with them forever you get married. It's a formal ceremony where everyone recognizes that you're together forever."  
"I see…" Zarkash said thoughtfully. "And have you ever had a boyfriend? Do you now?" He said nervously.  
"Well, not before you came." Alice blushed. "I don't know, do you consider yourself my boyfriend?"  
"Yes." He said without hesitation. "So about this prom. It involves dancing? Moving to a rhythm…" Zarkash looked at the ground, his red eyes filled with thought.  
"What, do you want to go?" Alice said in shock.  
"Well you like to dance, don't you? I don't see why not." He shrugged.  
Alice blinked in shock for a minute. She hadn't expected him to be quite so calm about it. "Uh… so you know what you have to do, right?"  
"It's just dancing with you, right?"  
"Well, everyone else will be dancing around us too. It's a group event."  
"We won't be alone?" Zarkash growled in frustration.  
"No, and you have to dress up. You should probably hide your horns too." Alice bit her lip nervously.  
"Dress up- as in those tight clothes Jeremy always wears?" Zarkash's nose wrinkled in disgust.  
"Yeah, but I'll be in a dress- so we're even."  
"A dress?" Zarkash looked at her with wide eyes.  
"Yeah, you know… with a skirt, and no sleeves… low neck…" Alice flushed.  
"So, you'll wear a dress if I wear what Jeremy wears?" He said, sounding far too excited.  
"It's no big deal- it's just a dress." Alice flushed at his eager tone.  
"I've never seen you in a dress." He said, frowning as Ricky walked back over, his face still flushed slightly.  
"I-I guess I'm going to prom with Mio." He said, glancing down to Alice.  
"Oh good, I'm going with Zarkash." She smiled sweetly.  
"WHAT?!" Ricky looked to the demon with wide eyes. "You actually asked her to go?"  
"Why not?" Zarkash shrugged casually. "I'm already her boyfriend… if that's what you call it here. She wants to go, so we'll go."  
Ricky stared at him for a minute and grinned wryly. "I'll have to tell you what you'll have to do. Maybe it's better if we go as a group."  
"That sounds fun. I'll ask Mio later on." Alice smiled eagerly. It would be her first dance going with a guy… She would have to teach Zarkash to dance, but that would be fun too.  
"So when is the dance?"  
"In a couple days. Maybe Mio can teach us both to dance. Lord knows I'm not exactly the master of tango." Ricky sighed, his wings drooping behind him.  
"What's tango?" Zarkash looked to Alice in confusion, who sighed again.  
"We have a lot to teach you in a week." She shook her head, but smiled up at Zarkash's uneasy expression.


	20. Chapter 20

No no, you have to lead Zarkash, not me." Alice sighed in frustration.  
"Well I don't know how to do it. How am I supposed to lead?" Zarkash growled.  
"Just… let's do a simpler one." Alice walked over to her CD player, pushing the button to stop and eject the CD. "We'll do Josh Groban. I like him." She popped in the CD, and the deep resonant voice filled the dorm room.  
"Better than that crazy rock stuff you like." Zarkash said. His ears were still ringing from the loud music. Alice walked back over to him and stood closer this time.  
"Alright, now put your hands on my waist." Alice said, blushing when he had a firm grip on her. "Gently. It's a romantic song."  
Zarkash grumbled slightly, still not really knowing how to act romantic. It meant you needed to be subtle and gentle, and he wasn't the best at either. He loosened his grip, his palm resting on her hip bone gently. He was still amazed at how tiny she was. He could wrap his hands around her waist easily- she was so fragile in his grip he was afraid if he made the wrong move he would break her spine. He concentrated on being careful not to tighten his grip as she started spinning them in a circle to the music.  
"That's it?" He said, actually liking this dance. It was simple.  
"Yeah." Alice whispered, letting out a soft sigh. She felt comfortable in his arms- knowing that if she ever fell he would always catch her.  
"You do like this, don't you?" Zarkash chuckled as Alice relaxed in his grip, leaning her head against his chest.  
"Yeah. It feels nice." She said softly. She gasped as Zarkash's hands moved to the small of her back, but relaxed when he didn't go any farther. She felt him rest his cheek on the top of her head, their horns resting against each other's. She blinked in confusion as a deep rumble came from Zarkash's chest and she looked up to see his face relaxed, erased of its usual frown. He looked peaceful- and handsome. But what was that rumbling sound? She lifted her head and felt a soft sound coming from him.  
"Are you purring?" Alice giggled in amusement.  
"I don't' know, am I?" He said, his voice deep. He looked down at her with warm red eyes. "Ricky still wanted to see me tonight, but he can wait. Did you want to dance more?" He said, sounding eager.  
"Save some of it for prom, Zarkash." Alice smiled, and stood on her toes to kiss him softly. He let out a low growl and took her back in his grip, kissing her fiercely. He let her go, laughing when she wobbled slightly on her own feet. "I don't think you can dance anymore. You can hardly stand." Zarkash chuckled, and led her over to the bed, sitting her down. "I'll go see Ricky so we can get our outfits. Mio wanted to come over to pick out dresses with you too. Something about alchemy weaving or whatnot. She talks in a foreign language sometimes."  
"Alchemy weaving? She can do that?" Alice said happily. The practice of taking any outfit and changing it into any other outfit you wanted. Thank God she had her old dresses to make something from.  
"I guess. Either way, you stay here and wait for her, and I'll go with Ricky. I'll see you tonight." Zarkash put his palm to her cheek, staying still for a minute while he looked down at her with a slight smile. He cleared his throat and walked out the door, shutting it softly behind himself.  
"Oh shit oh shit oh shit!" Ricky ran through the hall, his tuxedo jacket in hand and his wings slightly unfurled behind him in his panic. How had he forgotten something so important?! "ZARKASH!" Ricky looked around for the demon, his eyes wide. "I need help!"  
"Calm down. Jeez." Zarkash walked around the corner, seeing Ricky's panicked expression. "You forgot your wings, didn't you?"  
"Shut up." Ricky growled in embarrassment. "I just can't wear the jacket like that. The shirt's fine."  
"Hold still." Zarkash walked around Ricky, to see the width of his wings. He took the jacket, elongating one of his nails so that it was a sharp claw. He ripped two holes in the back of the fabric and Ricky flinched.  
"That stuff's expensive! Careful!"  
"I am. Just shut up, feather butt." Zarkash growled, and threw the coat back at Ricky when he was done.  
Ricky put on the coat, folding his wings tightly to get them through the holes, but managed to put them through. He looked down at himself, and sighed in relief.  
"Thanks." He said, looking up as Zarkash rolled his eyes.  
"No problem. I still can't believe you forgot that."  
"You'd be surprised." Rick muttered.  
"Having a hard time with your jacket, wings?" A soft voice said in amusement behind him. Ricky flushed and looked over his shoulder to see Mio smiling behind him. He turned around, his blue eyes wide at her green and black reflective dress. It was cut low, accenting her curves as she stood, smiling at him.  
"I looked that good, huh?" Mio looked down at herself in satisfaction at Ricky's shock.  
"You look nice." Zarkash nodded, amused by Ricky's reaction as well.  
"Thanks Zarkie. Have you gotten Alice yet?"  
"No, she said she was working on getting on her dress." Zarkash glanced over at the door. "You think she's done yet?"  
"Let me check." Mio knocked on the door softly. "You okay in there sweetie?"  
"Oh- Mio! Uh- are the guys out there?" Alice said nervously through the door.  
"Yeah, but I can keep them away. You need help?" Mio looked over to Ricky and Zarkash, who were already moving back from the view of the doorway.  
"Uh- yeah. The zipper's caught and my arms are only so long."  
"Okay, I'm coming in." Mio said, opening the door and walking though before closing it again.  
"See what I mean?" Alice sighed in frustration through the door. Zarkash walked forward, his ears perked to listen.  
"Boy you've really got it stuck, don't you? OH! That's why. Here-" a short silence, along with a sound of zipping. "There you go, dearie. It was stuck on your bra."  
"Damn things." Alice sighed. "Well, at least now I don't have to ask Zarkash. I'd wind up looking like a cherry by the time he was done."  
Zarkash held back a laugh, and walked back over to Ricky. "They're ready."  
"Okay, let's get going!" Mio opened the door, walking over to Ricky.  
Zarkash waited as Alice came out of the doorway, careful not to shut her purple dress in the door behind her as she closed it. She looked around and stopped when she saw Zarkash. He had hidden his horns, and his auburn hair was short- only ear length instead of to the middle of his back. He looked genuinely human except for his eyes, ears and the summoning mark on his cheek. His red eyes were wide as he looked at her, a small flush brightening his cheeks. He looked like one of those foreign super models- the ones that everyone flocked around. Was that what he looked like without all that hair in his face? He blinked a few times and walked over to her, offering a hand to her.  
"Ready?" He asked, his voice an octave lower than usual. She smiled softly, making him blush even more.  
"Yep." She walked toward him, then joined Ricky and Mio.  
"You look great, Alice." Ricky smiled, and glanced over to Zarkash, whose eyes were still wide as he stared at Alice.  
"Thanks." Alice blushed slightly, but smiled. "Mio did a great job with the dresses."  
"She did." Ricky agreed, glancing to Mio beside him, who smiled happily.  
"You look nice too, Zarkash." Alice smiled up at him, and he grinned back.  
"Well worth wearing this outfit." He looked her over again, his eyes pausing at certain intervals, making Alice blush again.  
"The dance is in the gym, so we should get there soon." Mio looked around at the other couples making their way toward the dance. They opened the door to the Gym and Zarkash groaned in pain, covering his ears as a loud music blasted around them. Alice put a hand on his back in concern, and Zarkash glanced down at her, uncovering his ears, but his expression still pained.  
"I'm okay." He said gruffly, walking into the gym and flinching as the music got even louder around him.  
"Maybe we shouldn't do this." Alice said, biting her lip nervously. Zarkash seemed like he was really in pain. She hadn't thought of how the loud music would affect him.  
"No no, I'm fine." Zarkash straightened, closing his eyes and shrinking his ears until they were normal human size. "There, much better." He sighed in relief. "I just had to adjust."  
Alice nodded, still skeptical but walked with him over to one of the vacant tables Ricky and Mio had set their things down at.  
"Everyone's just doing that one dance that you didn't want to do." Zarkash looked over at the dance floor in disappointment.  
Alice glanced over and flushed as most of the people on the floor were grinding together- making a massive writhing crowd. "Uh… yeah. I don't know if you want to do that one though, Zarkash."  
"Why not? Looks fun." He looked back over to Alice, his red eyes flashing. He stood and grabbed her hand, dragging her to the dance floor. "Don't worry, we'll get out of the view of the others." He whispered in her ear as he led her through the crowd.  
"That's not what I'm worried about!" Alice tried to protest, but gasped as Zarkash brought her against his front, setting his hands on her hips.  
"Now how do you do this?" he whispered in her ear, his breath causing her to flush.  
"Y-you just move, I guess. I don't know how to do it either." Alice whispered, embarrassed at dancing like this.  
"What's wrong? You don't want to dance?" Zarkash looked down at her, his tone disappointed.  
"Not like this. I'm afraid that… that…"  
"What?" He turned her around, looking down at her in concern. She gasped up at him, her eyes widening in surprise.  
"Zarkash- your eyes are glowing." She whispered. He blinked in surprise, bringing his hand up to his face to see the red glow reflected off his palm. He swore loudly, turning a few heads as he pushed Alice away from his front gently. "You were right, bad idea."  
"What does the glowing mean?" Alice said softly, looking up at him in wonder. He looked like something out of legend- carved features and eyes that reflected into her, making her blood boil in her veins.  
"It means I'm using the luxuria powers." Zarkash looked down at her with meaningful eyes. "And you don't need that here."  
"Oh." Alice blushed. "You can do that?"  
Zarkash grinned and leaned down again. "You'd be surprised what I can do." He whispered before taking in a quick breath and standing straight again. "Sorry- I… didn't mean that." He looked down uneasily. "Shit, how am I supposed to do this?" He growled. Being much taller than her didn't help- her low neckline was teasing him far too much.  
They both looked up as a softer sound played, some of the people around them sitting at the tables while others turned around to slow dance.  
"Thank God." Alice sighed in relief. She looked up at Zarkash, whose eyes were still glowing as he set his hands on her hips gently. "You sure you're okay to do this?"  
"Yeah. This is fine. Just no grinding unless you want me to go feral on you." He chuckled, setting his cheek on the top of her head. He liked this dance, it relaxed him- and Alice liked it too.  
"Maybe sometime later." Alice whispered, making Zarkash look down at her in shock.  
"Serious? But… I thought…"  
"Later, as in after I graduate." Alice smiled. "I'm naïve, but I'm not that bad." She smiled wryly.  
Zarkash nodded, but was still surprised. Did that mean that she's done it before? He let out a low growl at the idea that some other person might have mated with her.  
"No, I haven't." Alice chuckled. He looked back down at her in surprise and she pointed to her head. "Mind link."  
He chuckled, having forgotten about the mental link they had together. He opened it again in his mind, letting her emotions flood him. She felt slightly uneasy, but was still calm. She felt safe with him- completely comfortable with him, and wanted to stay like this.  
He smiled and tugged her closer, kissing her softly. "What was that part after boyfriend again?"  
"Getting married?" Alice blushed. "That's a big step. Are you sure you want to do that and be stuck with me forever? What if you get tired of me?"  
"I won't get tired of you, Alice. We're mates- and I mate for life, no matter how long that is." He smiled warmly as she set her head on his chest with a soft sigh.  
"We should see how Ricky and Mio are doing."  
"Look up." Zarkash whispered, and Alice looked up to see Ricky flapping his wings to keep both him and Mio afloat as they danced above the others. She chuckled in amusement and laid her head back on Zarkash's chest, listening to his heartbeat as they spun with the others.  
"They're getting along really well. Are they… uh… boyfriending too?" Zarkash tried to find the right human term for it.  
Alice laughed softly. "It's called 'going out'. And yeah, I guess so. I wouldn't have expected Ricky and Mio to go out though, they seem to be opposites." She glanced up at them again.  
"I don't see how that's so hard to believe. We're opposites too."  
"How so?" Alice looked up at him in confusion.  
Zarkash grinned, revealing his fangs as he smiled down at her. "You're far too nice, and I'm… well, not. You know how to deal with people- I don't."  
"you're strong and I'm not." Alice added.  
He nodded, looking down at her and wondering once again whether this was some dream or not. Was she real? Was any of what's happened real, or was it all just a dream? Morg was dead- he was finally free to live his life how he wanted to. That was a miracle to him by itself, but he had also found his mate. He knew he was meant to be with her- it was obvious not only by the constant tugging of pressure in his chest, but by his eyes changing to red. He wanted to stay with her, no matter what he had to do.  
"Don't be so serious. Have fun." Alice looked up at his thoughtful frown. He glanced down at her and nodded, leaning down to kiss her gently.  
"I'm just trying to think of how to live with you in this world. I don't really know much about the way you live."  
"That's true. We should teach you more of human life. That way you'll be a little more prepared when you go out into the real world."  
He hadn't thought about that. This was just a school- things here were probably different than they would be elsewhere. Suddenly he was nervous all over again.  
"And we should try to find Bagra, wherever he is." Alice bit her lip anxiously. "I don't want to just leave him stranded on earth. What if he wants to go back?"  
"There you go being all nice again." Zarkash teased, looking up as the music changed. "Come on," He pressed her against him, a mischevious grin on his face. "Let's have some fun."


	21. Chapter 21

Alice laughed as she sat down at the chair in the gym, the music and lights blaring around her. Zarkash grinned as he glanced over to her, and saw her flushed cheeks.  
"Are you feeling okay?" He yelled over the blasting music, which most of the people were making strange moves to, dancing to the directions the song was blaring.  
"Yeah, just a little warm." Alice yelled back, fanning herself with her hand to try and cool down a little.  
"Do you want something to drink? I saw them handing out cups of stuff earlier." He asked, moving closer so they wouldn't have to yell.  
"That's a good idea." She smiled, and kissed him on the cheek. He blinked in surprise but smiled happily, standing up and walking over to the punch bowl.  
He fought his way through the throngs of people to get to the punch bowl, nearly tripping several times as he squeezed between groups carelessly. One boy in particular made a noise of disbelief, shoving Zarkash slightly as he passed. The demon bared his fangs with a loud growl, and the boy backed up a few feet, his hands raised defensively before Zarkash continued on his way. He felt a hand grip his wrist and looked over to see Ricky looking at him with a stern expression.  
"Follow me. We need to talk." The angel said, folding his wings tightly against his back as they made their way through the crowd to the double doors that led into the hallway. Once away from the blaring music Zarkash sighed in relief, rubbing his ears slightly to stop them from ringing quite so much.  
"What are you and Alice planning?" Ricky asked, leaning against the wall as he waited for an answer.  
"Planning what?" Zarkash looked at the angel, a slight frown on his face.  
"After graduation. You're obviously not going back to hell after she graduates, so what are you two planning? Where are you going and what are you doing?"  
Zarkash glared at him. "Why does it matter to you?"  
"Because if you're found out by the government and captured, it'll be her that suffers." Ricky hissed, his wings twitching in frustration. "Do you have any idea what they do to people like us? Everyone's the enemy out there. No one can be trusted except out own kind."  
"Sounds familiar." Zarkash muttered, remembering the demon clan's same words said by Morg.  
Ricky glared at him with hard eyes. "I'm serious. I know I probably sound pushy, but I care about my sister. I don't want her to get hurt."  
Zarkash sighed in frustration. "I'm not going to let her get hurt, how many times do I have to tell you that?"  
"Until you prove it. So what are you going to do, live with her?"  
"Well of course. What else would I do?" Zarkash ground his teeth, not liking this conversation.  
"Do you plan on marrying her?" Ricky said, his voice softer.  
"Yes. I don't know when, that's up to her."  
Ricky looked at him in pleasant surprise before grinning wryly. "Alright then, I suppose you can live with her. Just try and keep after her, she tends to get in trouble if you're not watching her closely. She's too trusting."  
"I know." Zarkash rolled his eyes in exasperation.  
"Well, I need to get Mio punch too. Let's go." Ricky pushed off the wall with his wings, walking back into the gym and holding the door open behind him for Zarkash.  
Zarkash knew it was a little gesture, but small gestures can sometimes mean big things. Zarkash nodded in thanks and walked in after Ricky to get Alice punch.

"I can't believe she fell asleep like that." Ricky laughed as Zarkash carried Alice down the hall, her head resting on his shoulder as she slept soundly. "You don't seem tired."  
"That's because I normally don't need to sleep. Part of being a demon, I guess." He glanced down at her peaceful face and smiled warmly. "Though I do like her face when she's like this."  
Ricky craned his neck to see her and grinned as well, rolling his eyes. "God, don't get so mushy. Weren't you supposed to be some bad ass creature from hell?"  
"Bad ass creatures need mates too, you know." Zarkash said in a slightly sarcastic tone.  
"I think it's cute." Mio giggled from the other side of Ricky. "Though I'm glad she enjoyed herself so much. I don't think I've seen her smile that much before. You know Zarkash, before you were summoned she didn't really smile much."  
Zarkash looked over at Mio in surprise. "But she seemed so happy all the time."  
"No, there's two types of 'happy' with Alice. One is fake, and one is real. She learned to pretend to be happy when her father died. If you know her well, you can tell the difference right away." Ricky said, remembering the painfully sweet smile she would always give.  
"That much I've noticed." Zarkash held Alice closer to him as they approached their dorm room. "Well, I guess I'll put her to bed. I don't think she's waking up any time soon." He glanced down at her.  
"Probably not. No funny stuff, you know what they say about prom nights." Ricky looked to Zarkash seriously for a minute before glancing over to Mio. "I'll walk you to your dorm too." He looked back to Zarkash. "Will you still be teaching demonology?"  
"Yeah. I have a good subject to discuss tomorrow too. Something not even Jeremy will know."  
"Jeremy…? Oh yeah, the headmaster. I forgot you knew him when he was young. God that's so weird." Ricky blinked in confusion for a minute before he shrugged in dismissal. "Good night, take care of Alice." Ricky waved over his shoulder as he and Mio continued walking down the hall to her dorm room.  
Zarkash opened the door, holding Alice against his shoulder as he walked through the doorway, closing it behind him. He set her gently down on the bed, the silks of her dress rustling against the covers. Well even if she wasn't going to change into different clothes, he was. He hated being in this… what did Ricky call it… a 'monkey suit'? He didn't understand why monkeys would wear suits like this, but it did feel ridiculously tight and confining. He had been fighting the collar from strangling him all night. He hoped Alice wouldn't awake as he changed into his normal outfit of his brown leather pants and white tunic. He looked down at the repaired patches in the shirt and smiled warmly, remembering how Alice had sewn the fabric together.  
He sighed, letting his form relax into its casual human state, his long curved horns sprouting from his skull and hair lengthening to just past his shoulders. He let Alice's illusion fall as well, her white horns shimmering into sight against the pillow. He brushed a strand of her blond hair from her face, smiling softly before laying down next to her, and wrapping his arms around her gently, then slowly falling asleep.  
_  
Everything was cold. Darkness had overwhelmed his senses, after peering into angry yellow eyes. It was torture to know Alice was awake, probably worried sick about him. He struggled once again against his confines, but to no avail. He was weak- tired from constantly fighting with no food. How long had he been like this? He had lost track.  
"Steady boy, we'll get you out." An unfamiliar voice said through the darkness. It was deafening in his sensitive mind- making him yell out in anger and pain. Who was that? It didn't sound like anyone he knew.  
A bright flash suddenly shone through the darkness, and Zarkash took a deep breath of warm air. He flinched and closed his eyes against the light, blinking in pain as his eyes started to adjust.  
"Are you okay, Zarkash?" Her sweet voice asked. It was so good to hear her after so long in the dark.  
"Yeah, I think." He answered, his voice raspy. He looked at Alice, smiling in reassurance when he saw tears streaming down her cheeks.  
"You look pretty pale there, sonny." The queen of hell bent down and ruffled Zarkash's hair between his horns playfully. "Feeling okay?"  
"I said I'm fine." He growled, smoothing his long hair back down. He looked up at Alice and chuckled in disbelief as she let out a soft sob. "Don't worry so much. Come here." He opened his arms to comfort her, surprised when she tackled him back against the ground.  
"Seems like he's fine." A strange voice said, and Zarkash looked over Alice's shoulder to see a blond haired man stand up again, his body glowing a soft golden color.  
"Who the hell are you?"  
"Lugh, the Shining One, at your service." The man bowed politely, glancing to the queen. "I'm glad I got here in time. Alice is a very good summoner."  
"You summoned him?" Zarkash gasped, pushing Alice a little away so he could see her face.  
"It wasn't easy, but it was the only thing I could think of." She whispered against his hair.  
"I would have been fine. You worry too much." Zarkash smiled against her blond hair, but was secretly glad she had gotten him out when she did- he was starting to go mad from the solitude."I'll be here as long as you need me. You won't lose me that easily."  
He grinned as she let out another sob again, holding him tighter to her.  
"You should watch out more for your son-in-law, Hel. When are you going to come back? Thor is starting to ask questions." Lugh crossed his arms impatiently.  
"When my job here is done." The queen pouted. "This new demon seems to want Alice for some reason. I want to find out why."  
"So do I."Zarkash growled, his fangs bared. He gripped Alice protectively, glancing up at the queen in curiosity. Her name was Hel? What was that about Thor? If he remembered right, Thor was the norse god of.. thunder was it? Either way he wasn't from this plane.  
"Alright, but Loki is very angry with you."  
"Like I care what father thinks." The queen hissed in anger.  
Lugh let out a long sigh, his golden eyes watching the queen sadly. "I'll never know why you turned your back on your family Hel, but if you want to stay it's your choice. Alice- if you please? I'd like to get home."  
Alice nodded and raised shaky hands, chanting under her breath as runes started to surround Lugh. Lugh looked down at the symbols surrounding him and stared at the queen accusingly before disappearing in a bright flash.  
Alice sighed in relief and lowered her arms, leaning back against Zarkash for support.  
"So, you're not even from this plane, huh?" Zarkash looked up at the queen, who glanced uneasily down to him.  
"No, I'm not. It doesn't matter though, because I'm not going back." She said with a firm tone, and disappeared in a bright light as well.  
"This is all so confusing." Alice sighed.  
"I agree. First things first. Where's Bagra?" Zarkash growled._


	22. Chapter 22

Zarkash shot up in the bed, looking around the room as he tried to find out what was going on. He felt something rustling against him and looked down to see Alice still clad in her silk gown. He smiled at the memories from the night before and relaxed, seeing that she was safe. Apparently wherever Bagra was, he wanted Alice for some reason. It made him want to growl- but he suppressed the sound so that Alice could still sleep. He stayed thoughtfully silent as the sun started to rise above the horizon, looking down as Alice moved restlessly in his arms. She stretched and opened her eyes, smiling up at him so sweetly that he couldn't help but smile back.  
"Good morning." She said in a slightly raspy voice, looking down at herself in her prom dress and started laughing. "I fell asleep? That's so lame."  
"You're fine- you danced quite a bit." Zarkash chuckled, his fangs flashing. He sat up as she tried to move so that she was leaning against him as he sat against the headboard of the bed.  
"So then, what should we do until graduation? Jere-uh- the headmaster said that you passed your final exam by unsealing me." Zarkash said, letting out a yawn with ended with a drowsy growl.  
"I was thinking I'd start teaching you about the human world. It's pretty different than the school, you know." Alice looked up to Zarkash, who scoffed.  
"Shouldn't take long- it can't be _that_ different." The demon rolled his red eyes, looking out the window to the forest in the distance- knowing that another enemy wouldn't appear there again, but still keeping watch of the area.  
"Oh, I think you'll be surprised. I do have to ask some people for favors before we start though. We'll need a TV, a radio… what else?" Alice thought aloud, and Zarkash rolled his eyes again. She was going to go crazy with teaching him about 'human ways', and he was going to have to endure whatever she was going to throw at him. He let out a low growl and set his mouth against her bare shoulder, smiling against her warm skin as he felt her shiver and she let out a small gasp of surprise.  
"You think too much in the mornings." He said, his voice raspy as is eyes started to glow. He growled low in his chest and moved away to look at her. Her white horns had a pearlescent sheen in the morning light, her golden blond hair tousled and falling around her shoulders messily. She looked at him with warm purple eyes, a curiosity in them that made Zarkash smiled softly.  
He leaned back down and ran his fangs along the skin of her shoulder, moving the strap of her dress aside so that it fell partially down her arm. He wondered hazily what level of hell she would be from if she actually came from there. He heard her take a sharp intake of breath, her back arching against him so that her hair fell against his chest. He looked up at her face to see it slightly shocked as her purple eyes started glowing softly. Well, that answers that question. He chuckled and nipped at her skin softly, not really needing to eat but just wanting the feel of her skin against his mouth. He heard a noise outside the dorm door and let out an angry growl, which made Alice shiver again.  
"We have to stop." he told himself, but couldn't come to stop running his teeth along the smooth skin, moving up to her neck and gently nipped, making her gasp against him and writhe in his arms. "Someone's outside. It might be Ricky and Mio." he told himself with a growl, willing himself away from her with another growl of frustration.  
A knock on the door made them both jump, their eyes instantly losing their glow. Alice glanced back at Zarkash with a shy smile and moved the strap of her dress back up to her shoulder as they moved away from each other slightly.  
"You guys in there? It's almost time for class!" Ricky's voice said from outside. Zarkash swore harshly and they both got up, getting ready to go to the demonology class as Ricky waited impatiently outside.

Zarkash leaned against the desk restlessly, still worked up from this morning- he was aching to hold Alice again, who was looking sheepish as she sunk down into her desk, as if ashamed of what had happened. Why should she be ashamed? Was there something taboo that he had done?  
"So, I'm wondering if you guys are mature enough for this lesson." Zarkash said, his voice still husky. "Ever wonder where demons come from in the first place?"  
Jeremy sat up with attention, looking intrigued as the class suddenly perked up. "The children here were specially chosen for this class to learn about demons. I'm sure they'll be fine."  
"Alright then." Zarkash shrugged. "But I won't have anyone giggling." He looked to the class in front of him with hard red eyes, who all nodded.  
"You all know that I'm a Luxuria demon. Saying that, I guess you could say that I'm used to the idea of sex." Zarkash rolled his eyes. "Demons can have sex as often as they want down there- and usually do so as much as they can. But where do baby demons come from?" Zarkash looked around the room at the thoughtful faces, glad none of the students were getting squirmish from the topic. "I'll tell you: Baby demons do not exist. Demons are born full grown from the pits of hell itself."  
"So you're saying… since you're a demon, you can't have kids? What about the couple that you told us about before- the human and the demon? Did they have kids?" a red haired boy with glasses asked curiously.  
"Uh… I don't know if they did. If they did have kids, no one knows who they are." Zarkash said thoughtfully. He would have to ask around for that answer- he was curious about it too.  
"So wait… demons are born from fire?" Another student asked in confusion.  
"Yes- which is probably why we cannot get burned by fire. I can walk through a burning building and the only thing that will hurt me are the falling timbers." Zarkash shrugged. The idea of walking through a burning building made him think about his dream a few nights before- if it had even been a dream. He glanced at Ricky from the dream, wondering what it had meant. Maybe he would discuss it with the angel later…  
Alice looked at him in concern as she felt the anxiety growing through their link. What was he worrying about? She decided to stay silent as he cleared his throat. "I don't know any more than that, unfortunately. There is a link between heaven and hell- there are an equal number of demons and angels- always changing, but the numbers are always the same. That may be what triggers a birth, but I really can't say for sure."  
"Very interesting." Jeremy said from behind Zarkash. "So then class, we'll review the species of demons for the test tomorrow. The final will count for 40% of your grade, so be sure to study hard in the next few days."  
Everyone groaned in agony at the thought of the final exam and shuffled out of class slowly.

A few days later, Alice triumphantly sat down a small TV in front of Zarkash. "I finally found one! Who knew it would be so hard to find a stupid TV? Anyway, this belongs to one of the techs- so try not to scratch it or anything." Alice walked around and turned the knob, which switched on the TV. The picture turned on, revealing a daytime drama between two people in the soft blurred focus of a soap opera. Zarkash looked at it in confusion, leaning forward to look at the picture. "How does this thing work? Are there people in there or something?"  
Alice laughed, shaking her head. "No, it's run on electricity- wires and bulbs. I don't know exactly how it works, you'd have to ask one of the techs or maybe Ricky. All I know is that you can watch moving pictures on it transmitted through the air, or through a cable." Alice held up the cable running from a corner of the room to the TV. "This is the cable that's transmitting the pictures. Do you want to see more?"  
"Sure." Zarkash shrugged. The room the soap opera was being held in looked a lot like the apartment from one of his dreams. Were all homes like that outside of the school?  
Alice changed the channel to the news, looking at Zarkash's expression as they showed a skyline of New York. His eyes widened, his jaw hanging open in shock.  
"What are those?" he pointed to the sky scrapers.  
"Those are all buildings." Alice smiled at his shock. "People live and work in them. You can't just live for free out there- you have to work for money to buy things."  
"Can I work too?" Zarkash looked uneasily at Alice. He didn't want her to be the only one taking care of them. It seemed… wrong.  
"Sure, but we'll have to teach you some things first. Like money, reading, basic math…" Alice looked up thoughtfully. "It'll kind of be like we were before- only I'll be the teacher this time." She giggled in amusement.  
"Great." Zarkash said sarcastically, letting out a soft sigh, but couldn't help but smile as she started to ramble on about what she would need to teach him.


	23. Chapter 23

"So remember- just read off what the paper says and you should be fine." Alice looked up at Zarkash in her white graduation outfit, smiling at his uneasy expression as he looked over what was on the paper.  
"You know I don't like reading out loud." Zarkash growled slightly, trying to keep track of all the text on the page.  
"I know, but this is important. You have to show everyone you're capable of living in our world. Otherwise they may not let you stay with me."  
"They can try." Zarkash said fiercely, baring his fangs.  
"Just read the paper, tough guy." Alice laughed, patting Zarkash reassuringly, following Ricky into the back room of the auditorium, along with the rest of the graduates.  
Zarkash looked down at the paper in his hand, letting out a snort of discontent- he hated reading aloud- he always messed up somehow…  
"So, Fuzzball- what are you going to do once Alice graduates?" Jeremy walked up behind Zarkash in an ornate robe of green, brown and black embroidered patterns. Zarkash's own red and black robes looked plain compared to his.  
"Well, she was talking about moving to New York- to one of the apartments there."  
"The Big Apple, hmmm? Well be prepared to have to work for your living, Zarkash. The city is a tough place to start a life- especially for a demon who has to keep his identity secret." Jeremy pointed to Zarkash's curved ram horns. "And remember- you must watch after Alice, if the humans can prove that something is different about you two… well, I honestly do not know what will happen."  
Zarkash nodded grimly, looking down at the paper in his hands thoughtfully. "Jeremy- do you remember what Bagra was like?"  
"Bagra? The kitsune demon? How do you know about him?" Jeremy said in surprise.  
"I have been having dreams about him- bad dreams, mind you. Does he have a fascination with Alice?"  
"Not that I remember, but he was always pretty unpredictable. I always liked doing his own thing, and often forgot about Evan along the way. He must be in this world somewhere then, huh?" Jeremy looked around, as if expecting to see the demon.  
"Yes, though I do not know where. In my dreams he wants Alice- so I do not like the idea of her meeting him." Zarkash growled. 'Not liking' was an understatement- he would do everything he could to prevent Bagra from even seeing Alice.  
"Well, just be careful, and I'm sure you'll be fine. Ricky told me that he thinks you're ready to live in the real world- just try not to look like a deer caught in headlights." Jeremy chuckled and walked off to start the ceremony.  
Zarkash snorted at the teasing, and looked at the podium on the stage to his left, gulping nervously as he heard himself introduced by Jeremy. Zarkash walked out onto the stage, bracing himself for what was to come.  
He set the paper down on the podium, trying to look at the audience past the bright lights focused on him, seeing Alice and smiling warmly at her encouraging thumb's-up from her seat next to Ricky.  
He cleared his throat and started "In my year that I have lived with you, I have learned many things. The human race is filled with compassion and understanding- they must to accept a demon like me into this school." Zarkash smiled wryly. "When I was first summoned here, I did not know what to think- usually I am summoned only to fight, and then leave back to hell. This time though, I met Alice, and even made a few friends. You have accepted me as one of your own, and that is more than I could ever have expected. As a demon, I am respectful of you- your class has shown me what true power is- and it does not rely solely on your abilities in magic. As your teacher, I am proud of you. All of you have overcome the obstacles that arose in front of you to sit where you are. I hope the rest of your lives are filled with as much success, and that you all find happiness in your lives." Zarkash finished with a sigh of relief as he stepped away from the podium, surprised by the cheer that arose from the students. He looked at them in shock and smiled, waving as he walked off the stage.  
As he walked down the steps to the side of the stage, he looked up at a man standing against the wall, looking over at him in interest.  
"Very good speech, little demon. I did not expect it from one such as you." The blond haired man smirked wryly, his black eyes making Zarkash falter for a moment.  
"What are you doing here?" Zarkash hissed lowly, looking around to see if anyone else noticed the stranger.  
"I need to speak to one of the students after the ceremony." The man shrugged, his black wings moving with his shoulders. He did not have two wings like Ricky- he had three sets of large black wings behind him, holding him casually against the wall behind him.  
"Who? Ricky?" Zarkash glanced over at Ricky, who was walking up to the stage to accept his diploma and graduate.  
"Indeed. I did not expect one of my offspring to acquire my abilities. It is… awkward." The angel smirked. "Luckily it is only limited. Otherwise I may have a bigger problem than I already have. I am already in trouble as it is for mating with a human that long time ago."  
Zarkash stared at him in shock. "And yet you've stayed what you are?"  
"Our God is forgiving and kind. I was a human once, after all- and prone to sin even as an angel. Being an archangel requires me to have a more… human knowledge of the world than angels usually do."  
"I bet." Zarkash said sarcastically. "Taking souls can't be easy, I'm sure."  
The angel looked down at him with a frown. "I only allow you to stay here out of my own gratitude, demon. Do not test my patience."  
Zarkash shut his mouth immediately, looking over at the stage as Alice got her diploma as well, talking to Jeremy for a moment. She bit her lip as he cheeks flushed and nodded quickly. Zarkash noticed with some confusion that her eyes were starting to fill with tears.  
"You love her?" The angel looked down at Zarkash, as if seeing him for the first time.  
"Yes. More than anything else." Zarkash said thoughtfully, smiling as Alice saw him and ran over, hugging him tightly around the waist.  
"We did it, Zarkash! We made it." She said happily.  
Zarkash laughed and hugged her back. "We sure did- now get back to your seat, the ceremony's not done yet." He said, pushing her gently back toward the other students. He watched her run back into the line, looking back at the man Zarkash was talking to before pointing him out to Ricky, who looked over and blanched visibly.  
"Your mate has made things easier for me." The angel smiled.  
"She usually does." Zarkash sighed. "Now Michael, you're not going to keep Ricky from Mio, are you?" He frowned suddenly.  
"Mio?" Michael looked out at the audience, as if looking for who he was talking about. "Ah, the little magic-crafter. No, he may stay with her." Michael nodded, as if he had considered doing otherwise with someone else.  
Zarkash watched the archangel for a bit before shaking his head and walking over to stand near Alice.

The ceremony did not last much longer after that- the students all got their diplomas and cheered, throwing their caps into the air happily. They streamed out of the auditorium, surprised to see a crowd of parents awaiting them. Alice found Zarkash standing near the doors, watching children greet their parents.  
"Hey Zarky." Alice knocked him on the arm playfully. Zarkash looked down at her with a smile.  
"Hello my little summoner. I was just watching the students." He looked back up, noticing Ricky walking over to his parents, Michael following behind him. Ricky's parents froze at the sight of the archangel, and greeted him uneasily.  
"So who is that guy?" Alice pointed to Michael.  
"That is the Archangel Michael."  
Alice choked in shock. "_The_ Archangel Michael? From the bible?" She gasped.  
"Well yes, there is only one." Zarkash chuckled. "Your mother is a demon, you are even mated to one, and yet you are surprised to see an angel?" He said in amusement.  
"Well, not one of _the_ angels. He's like… one of the top ones, isn't he?"  
"He and Gabriel, to the best of my knowledge. I do not know much about heaven."  
Alice watched them talk before Jeremy stood in front of them with a wide smile.  
"Congratulations, to both of you. You did wonderfully, Zarkash." the headmaster smiled. "Now Alice, Zarkash tells me that you are going to live in New York?"  
"Well that's what I was hoping. Dad lived there, so I'm used to it."  
Jeremy nodded in understanding. "A wise choice- it will be easier to blend in. I am here to offer you something, as long as you keep it secret from the other students- it would not seem fair to them."  
Alice nodded curiously, looking down as Jeremy handed her a small paper. She held it up to look at it and gasped when she saw it was the deed to a house.  
"That was your father's house. He left it to me to give to you after your graduation." Jeremy said softly.  
Alice looked down at the deed with wide eyes, her eyes burning. "He did think of me right up until the end, didn't he?" Alice looked up at Jeremy with wide eyes.  
"He did. He told me to take away from the battle so you would not see his death- you were so small then, he did not want that to be your last memory of him."  
Alice stared at the paper for a bit, before hugging Jeremy tightly. "Thank you." She whispered.  
"It is no problem, my dear. Just think of me as a kind old uncle who wants what's best for you." Jeremy laughed. "I also left a note in the house of how to contact me should the need arise. I trust Zarkash knows how to use the telephone?"  
Zarkash nodded, as if insulted that Jeremy thought he wouldn't know.  
"Very good. Everything there is left as it was- it is yours now, so you can do with it as you'd like." Jeremy ruffled her hair as she stepped away from him.  
"We should be fine, right Zarkash?"  
"Yeah, we'll be alright." Zarkash reached out and held her hand in his, looking down at her with a smile.


End file.
